A Chance Encounter
by Fifth Horseman
Summary: Sometimes a chance meeting can be the beginning to something bigger. Maybe it can even help ease some of the wounds of the past and start a new path.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I own nothing of it and am only playing in this wonderful world Monty gave us.

This is a bit of an experiment. For the last couple of years I have toyed with ideas for a Bleach/RWBY crossover fic. I have never quite been able to settle on a particular idea or set of ideas, or how I really wanted to go about it. My ideas about how the worlds of Bleach became Remnant have been constant since the beginning but after a couple of years of on and off tinkering with ideas (mostly off, depression or something near to it kept smacking my brain and making a mess) I haven't gotten a lot closer to putting something together.

But, I did have this idea about Ruby and Ichigo meeting and decided to run with it as a one shot. It could eventually form the basis of a full fic, or be some component of one. Or it might just be a stand alone one shot. I have no idea what the future of my thinking about a full story will be.

So in the mean time I hope this brings some enjoyment. I had fun writing it. Not sure if it came out exactly as I originally thought...there was a big gap between when I started it and when I finished it.

And while I should know better than to ask, considering how few reviews my last few works have gotten, I will say it with hope any way.

Please Read and review. Hope you enjoy it.

(Slight edit made 08/14/18)

 **A Chance Encounter**

 _ **City of Vale**_

Down near the docks there was a beautiful, tree lined waterfront park. It was a popular place for people to stroll along the shore through it's well manicured grounds, or peacefully sit and look out over the water. Up on the street level above there were any number of quaint shops were people could browse and restaurants and outdoor cafes where they could relax and watch the world go by. On this day however there was a crowd of people gathered around the main staircase down into the park, observing the activity below. There were police vehicles parked around the entrance and a couple of officers kept the curious onlookers from going down to the lower level.

One such onlooker was Huntress in training Ruby Rose. Crime scenes attracted the girl like misery attracted the Grimm. Any time she was in the city and there were police lights flashing nearby she just had to go and see what was happening. She couldn't help herself and this was certainly no exception. The problem was, she wasn't close enough to be able to see what was going on. Sometimes being small had its advantages and she began picking her way through the crowd, darting into small gaps as people shifted and moved to try and gain a better view themselves. Gradually she worked her way forward. One last quick move should get her right to the front.

Unfortunately she wasn't entirely through the gap before the person moved again and caught her foot with theirs. With a small cry of alarm she stumbled forward and found herself looking down the long flight of stone steps that she was about to tumble down head first. Or at least she would have if a large, strong hand hadn't caught her shoulder and pulled her back upright.

"Careful," a gentle and amused voice said. "That's a trip I don't think you want to take."

"Yeah, that would have hurt," she agreed. "Thanks," she said as she turned to look at her rescuer.

The first thing she noticed besides the fact that he was tall, was his bright orange hair. It framed a tanned face with brown eyes that were regarding her with some amusement. He was dressed in black pants and boots with a white shirt, all under a long black, ragged tailed coat with a red interior. Over his shoulder she could see the handle of a sword and at his waist under the coat was what she thought might have been a shorter blade but she couldn't see enough of it to tell. Obviously a Huntsman and she really wanted to ask about the weapons but doing so while standing in a crowd probably wasn't the best idea and she reluctantly stowed her curiosity.

"No problem," he answered.

"So what's going on here?" she asked as she turned to look at the scene.

"Look's like some White Fang goons ran into the wrong people," he answered. He sounded amused.

Sure enough down below on the pathway that led from the stairs and into the park were four members of the White Fang, easily recognizable by their trademark white vests adorned with the crimson wolf's head and triple slash marks. Each one of them was looking pretty beat up and was tied to a lamp post, their masks smashed on the ground in front of them...and with their pants down around their ankles. On one of the posts was a large handwritten sign on a thick piece of cardboard.

 _'The Faunus deserve equality and all the benefits of humankind, but the terror and violence of the White Fang only hurts that cause and will never achieve it'._

She certainly agreed with what the sign said, but somebody had some guts to do that to members of the White Fang. She might not know a lot about them, but she knew enough to know that public humiliation was not something they would take lightly and they would be looking to hunt down whoever did it.

"I get why they're tied up," she said. "So they won't get away before the police showed up. But why are their pants around their ankles?"

"A little extra humiliation to go with being caught," he answered. "Along with the fact that they were all beaten up by one person and the video of it is already all over the net."

He held out a scroll and the video was playing on it. It had been dark out when it happened but the lights lining the walkway had provided plenty of illumination to make the video clear. Just as he said the four White Fang members were getting the stuffing beat out of them by a lone individual. The person doing the beating was dressed all in black, sort of like a ninja, with only the area around their eyes being visible. There was also no mistaking that the person was a woman. It looked like she was toying with them, they never came close to landing a hit on her and she moved and struck with such ease...so awesome!

"Wow," she crooned. "Whoever that is she is sooo good. Those guys couldn't even touch her."

He smirked. "Nobody can and she thought leaving them with their pants down would be good for a laugh."

She turned and looked up at him. "Wait, you know her?" she asked.

"You could say that," he said with a smile. "There could have been a dozen or two of them and they still wouldn't have laid a hand on her. The rank and file goons of the White Fang aren't all that tough, but you already know that right, Ruby Rose?"

Her eyes went wide. "You know who I am?"

"I do," he answered. "Me and the lady in the video like to keep an eye on upcoming Huntsmen and Huntresses, particularly from Beacon." He smirked. "For only being there for one semester you and your team have had some adventures of your own already, haven't you?"

She tilted her head cutely. "I didn't think anyone outside the school or the police knew about any of that."

"They probably don't," he agreed. "But we're pretty good at finding out things we want to know. And we may have been nearby for a thing or two."

"What?! When, where?"

"Tell you what," he began. "I'm waiting for someone and it's almost lunch time, and there's a nice little cafe across the street. I'll buy you lunch and you can ask me anything you want."

Her nervousness around new people suddenly kicked in, odd how it hadn't before. It was obvious he was a Huntsman, on that alone she was dying to talk to him about his experiences, plus he knew the person that beat up the White Fang members and he knew who she and her team were.

He sensed her sudden nervousness. "Sorry," he apologized. "You don't know me after all and I'm asking you to go to lunch with me. Not very smart on my part."

For a moment she thought she saw a look of sadness pass through his eyes. She rubbed the back of her head self consciously. "I'm, not good around new people...and I don't even know your name."

He face palmed. "Sorry, that was rude of me not to introduce myself. Name's Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ruby Rose," she said. "Ahhhh...but, you already know that. Sorry."

He chuckled. "No problem. So, lunch?"

"...Sure," she accepted.

She followed behind him as the crowd seemed to part for him automatically. It may have had something to do with the fearsome scowl that she spotted on his face when a member or two of the crowd seemed reluctant to move. Something else she noticed and was paying strict attention to was the sword on his back. It was huge! A lot bigger than she thought it would be when all she could see before was the hilt and grip sticking up above his shoulder. It hung all the way down his back, and was wide at the hilt and tapered down to a point. The sheath looked like it was wrapped in white bandages or strips of cloth. The handle was long and rounded and several links of chain, with the last link being broken, was attached to the end. She really wished she could see what the blade looked like.

While she was geeking out over the sword on his back, he was thinking about the girl herself. He knew she had skill, he had seen it, but there was something far too familiar about her situation and what his had been so long ago. Children training for war. He didn't like it, but he knew that it was a reality of this world that could not be escaped if human and Faunus had any chance of creating a world safe enough for them to live and prosper in. Someone had to keep the beasts at bay and the situation was dire enough to require training schools for the youth of Remnant to hone their deadly skills at, rather than be out doing all of the things normal teens should be doing instead.

It also didn't help that the girl trailing behind him had fragments of two very familiar souls making up a part of her own. Souls that he had hoped to find some trace of for so long but hadn't felt until the first time he saw Ruby Rose on the day of her initiation into Beacon. This was the first time he had been close enough for his much improved sensory abilities to truly verify what he had felt that day. Karin and Yuzu, or at least a half of each of their souls lived on in the young leader of Team RWBY, and if he had felt it right that day, he knew who the other half of their souls resided in but he hadn't been able to confirm that for sure.

It had been so long since he had felt the presence of his precious little sisters. In all of the centuries that he had been awake since the worlds he knew fell apart upon their defeat of Yhwach, a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one, he had come across people who had fragments of the souls of people he had known as a part of their own, but he had never found anyone carrying fragments of those closest to him in life. He always hoped that finding some sign of those souls would be the cure for the nightmares that sometimes plagued him. Well, not so much nightmares as an occasional reliving of history in too much vivid detail.

It was always the same, he was falling away from the crumbling Soul King's palace after striking the death blow against the Quincy King. The dimensions of the Royal Realm, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the world of the living and even Hell, all crumbling and coming apart with nothing left to keep them together. He could feel the souls of his friends going quiet as he fell, he swore he could even feel his sisters even though they were so far away. He felt Orihime try with all of her might and conviction to reject the cataclysm, felt the warm glow of her power pass over him but to no avail. There was simply too much to overcome no matter how badly she wanted to.

He had been wracking his brain for anything that he could come up with no matter how far fetched that could make any sort of a difference but there was nothing. Oblivion was approaching and even with all of the power he had gained he could do nothing to stop it. He found himself screaming in impotent rage as he fell, feeling as useless as he ever had in his short life. As a protector he had failed. He may have defeated the enemy but the cost was well beyond enormous. That was usually where he awoke, short of breath and sweating. What happened after was remembered with much less despair and terror.

His screaming had stopped when he felt a hand grasp his and he turned his head to see Yoruichi falling next to him. The look in her eyes was the same as his and it was the first and only time he had ever seen fear in those golden orbs. He pulled and brought her to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her and she did the same to him. He really wanted to say so much to her right then, how much he admired her strength, how much he appreciated everything she had ever done for him, and just how much he truly cared about her. But, any words said by either of them were lost to the rushing wind as they fell into oblivion.

It would be centuries before they awoke again and discovered this world that had so aptly been named Remnant, and centuries more before he would find himself settling down to a table at an outdoor cafe with a young girl whose soul was partly made up of the souls of his cherished sisters. After not having felt their presence for so long he just wanted to bask in it for a while which was one of the reasons he had asked Ruby to have lunch with him.

The cafe exterior was made up of large, light grey stone tiles while the floor of the outdoor seating area was polished darker stone tiles with light coloured veining running throughout. The tables were wrought iron with glass tops with matching cushioned wrought iron chairs and an ornate iron fence surrounded the seating area. They settled on a table at the front corner with Ruby sitting across from him as he sat with his back to the fence. Her eyes were practically glued to his sword which he had taken off his back, the wrappings spiralling away into the handle and revealing the partially hollowed blade as he propped it up in the corner and hung its smaller trench knife counterpart from the chain on the end of the handle. He removed his long coat and draped it over the back of the chair. After a waiter took their orders and request for coffee, he regarded her for a moment as she stared at his swords.

"My partner's names are Zangetsu," he said with a smile to the fascinated girl. "It means Slaying Moon."

"Wow," she crooned, veritable stars in her eyes. "I've never seen swords like that" She looked up at him. "You called them your partners?"

He nodded. "They are not my weapons, they are not an extension of myself gained just through training with them. They are a part of me. They are me and I am them. When I fight I don't wield a weapon, I _am_ the weapon. I am Zangetsu and Zangetsu is me." He smiled and silently acknowledged the agreement of his partners from his inner world. "And unless I'm mistaken, you see Crescent Rose as more than just a mere weapon yourself don't you?"

She nodded vigorously, awed that he even knew the name of her sweetheart. "My Uncle Qrow taught me that the ability to use your weapon should be second nature. He said it can mean the difference between life and death." She looked away sheepishly. "I think Crescent Rose is more than just a weapon though."

"He's not wrong," Ichigo said. "And neither are you. You built it yourself right?" She nodded. "That means you put your soul into it with every part you made and assembled because you knew you would be trusting your life and the lives of others to it." Her scythe may not be sentient and alive like a Zanpakuto, but the connection between them was still real enough, even if it only existed in Ruby's mind. "And from what I've seen of you using it, you're well on your way to wielding it being second nature to you. I'm impressed with your whole team actually. For only being in your first semester at Beacon the four of you fight well and you've already developed some good teamwork skills."

She blushed at the praise and cocked her head cutely to one side. "When did you see us fight?"

The waiter brought their coffee and he wanted until he left to respond. "The first time was during your initiation. We always try to be around the Emerald Forest on that day each year to keep an eye out for the new students in case they run into too much trouble."

She looked puzzled as she began dumping sugar in her coffee. "But Professor Ozpin said that no one would come and help if we got into trouble."

"None of the instructors would," he corrected, adding a lesser amount of milk and sugar to his coffee than his guest. "But we aren't instructors and while Ozpin knows that we show up for it, no one including him ever sees us when we're there. We only step in if some Grimm show up that we know the students won't be able to handle."

"But how do you remain unseen?" she asked. "There are camera drones everywhere so they can watch us."

He smirked. "We are the best at what we do, which includes not being seen unless we want to be." She didn't need to know about things she wouldn't understand, like the techniques of the Onmitsukido or concealing Kido. "We had a front row seat as you and your friends took out the Death Stalker and Nevermore. If it looked like you couldn't handle them, we would have."

"When else did you see us fight?"

"When you took on that Paladin," he answered. "We got there just after your team did. Nice work by the way."

She rubbed the back of her head nervously at the praise. "You keep saying 'we'. Who was with you?"

"That would be me," a woman's voice said from behind Ichigo.

Ruby looked up and her eyes went wide. Standing on the other side of the iron fence behind Ichigo was a dark skinned woman with yellow eyes, a mischievous grin, and long purple hair done up in a high ponytail. She was dressed in what looked like a black bodysuit of some kind under an orange jacket. She was so pretty! She leaned over the rail and wrapped her arms around him.

"Really now Ichigo," she said slyly. "I leave you alone for a few minutes and here you are off picking up young girls? I have to admit she is a cute one though."

Ichigo just rolled his eyes. "Don't mind her Ruby, she just loves to tease people."

"Mostly you but I'm adaptable." She kissed him on the cheek. "Nice to finally meet you Ruby, I'm Yoruichi Shihoin, this big strawberry's wife."

Ruby giggled. "Strawberry?"

Ichigo sighed. "My name has multiple meanings. One happens to be 'strawberry' but the intended one is 'he who protects'."

"You keep saying that but I'm not so sure," Yoruichi teased as she ruffled his hair. She walked to the entrance and rejoined them at the table a moment later. "So how did you two run into each other?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head and adopted a sheepish smile. "Ah...well he saved me from falling down the stairs when I was trying to see what was going on in the park."

Yoruichi smirked. "That figures. If there's a beautiful young damsel in distress, Ichigo will find her and save the day. They could write books about his exploits."

"Really?" Ruby crooned as she also blushed at the 'beautiful' comment. If there was one thing she loved it was stories of heroism. She wondered for a moment if that was how these two had met.

"Definitely," Yoruichi nodded sagely. "He lives up to the meaning of his name quite fiercely. He's been the heroic knight in shining armour for many beautiful young ladies in trouble, fighting impossible battles against overwhelming odds."

Ruby was positively star struck as she looked at him. "Wow...so cool!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Geeze, exaggerate much?"

"Don't listen to him," Yoruichi said, waving her hand dismissively. "He tries to be all humble and doesn't take credit or allow himself to be proud of the things he accomplishes."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "There's only one thing I need to feel pride in and that's the fact that I have you beside me."

Despite the centuries they had been together now, it still gave her goose bumps and left her feeling flushed whenever he said things like that. It also reminded her of the first time that he awkwardly blurted out that he loved her. Things hadn't been good then. They were in the throes of the reality of what had happened. They had defeated the Quincy Emperor, but lost everything in the process, waking up centuries after their fall from the ruins of the Soul King's palace to find that the world they now lived in was radically different from what they had known. They had lost friends, family, and entire dimensions had been crammed together to form this one world where mankind had once again risen to life but was faced with hordes of soulless monsters that desired nothing but their destruction.

They were both wrecked. It had been a very long time since she had ever felt so defeated and helpless but at least she had the experience of already having lived for hundreds of years and the things she had already experienced as part of the Onmitsukido to lean on to help her cope with things. Ichigo however didn't have that luxury and there were times where she would snap at him and be unduly harsh with his failing attempts to handle the situation, forgetting that he was still little more than a child with less than eighteen years of living under his belt. It should never have been his job to fight for the afterlife that he shouldn't have even been aware of, let alone blaming himself for the demise of everything and everyone they had both known.

They had argued and fought, in epic fashion, and she finally realized that with her occasional harshness towards him that he thought she hated him and blamed him for the loss of everything and everyone they had known. As he was well known to do, he had placed the responsibility and blame for the loss of their worlds entirely upon himself. It was made all the worse by the revelation on a day that could have seen him lose all grasp on his sanity that he loved her and that he had for a long time. He could never tell her so and the thought that she hated him was crushing his heart and sapping his will to keep going.

From that moment on everything changed for them. She made sure to drill it through his thick orange haired skull that she didn't hate him, never had and never could, that she had feelings for him like she had never had for anyone else and that she hadn't known what to do about it. His declaration of love was the first purely honest one she had ever heard directed her way. She made sure that he never forgot that she loved him too even when she was beating him into the ground, teaching him everything she knew. The sad thing was that with everything that he knew and could do now that he had learned from her and his inner spirits, he could have made short work of Aizen and been able to take on the Quincy Emperor pretty much on his own, maybe with only a bit of help from anyone else. But there was no use even thinking about that now. They had each other, they loved each other deeply, and they had a new world to protect and they were determined that they would not fail this time.

She looked at their guest. "If you ever find someone like him Ruby, grab onto them and don't let go."

"I-I'm too busy training to become a Huntress to think about things like boys," Ruby said quickly.

Yoruichi smirked. "Who said it had to be a boy?"

"Ease up there Yoruichi, she looks like she's about to swallow her tongue," Ichigo cautioned. He wasn't far off and Ruby had turned a shade of red worthy of her name.

Thankfully their food arrived and interrupted any further teasing. As they began to eat Yoruichi noticed that Ruby kept glancing at her. "Is there something you wanted to ask me?" she questioned.

Ruby startled for a moment but recovered quickly. "Um...you were the one in the video Ichigo showed me, weren't you?"

"I was," she answered.

"It was so cool!" the young girl exclaimed. "I mean, you were all 'keeyha' and stuff," she made swinging and chopping motions with her hands. "So smooth...and it looked so effortless!"

"Well, it wasn't much of a show," Yoruichi more or less apologized. "Those guys were pathetic and I had to let it drag on way longer that it should have just to get a decent stretch out of it."

Ruby's eyes nearly bugged out. "You mean you could have taken them out even faster?"

"She could have had them all unconscious before any of them knew they were under attack," Ichigo said. "They wouldn't have known anything had happened to them until they woke up tied to the lamp posts."

"But why film the fight, tie them up like that and break their masks...and pull their pants down?" Ruby asked.

"Mostly, that's a bit of psychological warfare," Yoruichi answered. "We want to humiliate them and show them that they aren't as tough as they think they are and that we can kick them around anytime and anywhere we want to. We want them to know that we have no respect for them and their methods and we want them to know they are being hunted. We want them looking over their shoulders for the bogeyman they'll never see coming. What you probably didn't see on the sign I left was our personal calling card so that they will know exactly who is hunting them."

She reached into her jacket and pulled out a slip of paper. Drawn on it was a smiling, cartoon cat face and a strawberry with a scowling face.

"What the..." Ruby started.

"Cat-berry!" Yoruichi grinned proudly. For his part Ichigo just shook his head. "We leave this behind every time we hit the White Fang."

"She's even having business cards printed up to leave behind," he drawled.

"It'll be easier that way," she said, smiling. "And it shows a sense of organization. They'll think there's a bigger group after them. It will help increase their paranoia."

"Along with making them think we're insane," he added. Personally, he blamed Urahara for having such an influence on her. Of course he could be wrong, they may have both been bat shit crazy from the start.

"But, won't they just be more active against everyone then?" Ruby asked. "If they get all angry...well _angrier_ , won't they just, um, lash out more publicly?"

"That's a very good question Ruby," Yoruichi smiled, impressed at the girl's analysis. "They might if they didn't have something specific to focus on, but by leaving a calling card behind it gives them a place to focus their anger and hopefully away from the general public. They'll drive themselves to distraction trying to figure out who we are and trying to find us. Humiliation is something they will take very personally and want to get revenge for almost as much as the slight to their organization. Besides, I thought pantsing them would be funny."

"Told ya," Ichigo said to Ruby. "And I bet she waited around out of sight until they woke up just to see the looks on their faces."

"It was hilarious," she chuckled. "They looked mortified and indignant at the same time. Kind of like you always used to look when I would tease you after we first met."

"That's because you were usually naked," he cracked dryly.

Ruby's eye's bugged out and she nearly spit out a mouthful of food. "W-what?"

"She thought it was funny to suddenly appear in front of me stark naked," he said like it was a normal occurrence.

"That's because you were such a prude," Yoruichi teased.

"I was not a prude," he protested. "It was improper for me to see you like that and you'd always spring it on me without warning."

"Wouldn't have been any fun if I had told you ahead of time," she reasoned. "And it wasn't like I was going to bathe in the hot springs with my clothes on. At least I got to see you naked too so I got something out of it too besides a good laugh at driving you nuts."

He looked at Ruby who was practically speechless. "I started training with her when I was about your age and would have to soak in the hot spring afterwards to try and undo the damage. She's relentless to train with but I wouldn't know most of what I do today nor would I have survived this long if it wasn't for her. Even if she did keep trying to give me a freaking heart attack."

"All power and no skill back then," she said in sad but still fond remembrance. "And he was so hard headed that he often had to learn the hard way that power alone wasn't enough."

Ruby's eyes lit up. "My Uncle Qrow always told me that when he was teaching me. He said it didn't matter how powerful your weapon, your Semblance, or your Aura was if you didn't have the skill to use it right."

"Always remember that," Ichigo said seriously. "It might spare you a lot of unnecessary pain." She looked at him questioningly. He sighed. "I used to end up with a lot of injuries I could have avoided if I had been more skilled. And I also used to go into fights without much of a plan in mind and would have to try and improvise on the fly when things got ugly and desperate."

"Used to worry everyone to death and it took forever to break him of that habit," Yoruichi told her. "That's where you're fortunate. You train hard and have good teachers around you and you already seem to have an understanding of the value of tactics and having a plan. Keep it up and you will become one of the best Huntresses Remnant has ever seen."

Ruby didn't know how to respond. Not being great with other people went hand in hand with not knowing how to handle high praise. Especially when she knew that she hadn't really accomplished much yet. "T-thank you," she said quietly after a long pause. "I hope I can live up to that. I really want to be the best Huntress I can."

"You will," Ichigo assured her confidently. "Yoruichi's an extremely good judge of skill and talent." He kept the hint of brotherly worry out of his voice. He understood full well that Ruby wasn't either of his sisters even if he could feel the presence of parts of their souls within her. It was because he could feel them though that even after all of the years that had gone by he still felt the pull on his own soul to protect them.

He was also proud. Proud that in Ruby he could see the kindness and determination that he had seen in both Karin and Yuzu. He could also feel power deep within her, power that mirrored what he had always suspected and feared that his sisters might one day be capable of. He knew they would have used that power for all of the right reasons just as Ruby wanted to be a Huntress and use her skills for the right reasons too. Keeping an occasional eye on Ruby and her team was as close as he would get to seeing his sisters grow up and come into their own.

They ate quietly for a few moments before Ruby, ever curious, felt the need to break the silence. "So, you said you knew Professor Ozpin. Did the two of you train at Beacon too?" She could have sworn she saw a hint of sadness touch their features before it disappeared and she was worried that she had said something wrong.

"Where we lived and trained was practically a whole other world away from Beacon," Yoruichi answered somewhat sombrely. "It was also a long, long time ago."

The questioning tilt of Ruby's head brought Ichigo out of his thoughts. "We're actually a lot older than we look," he told the girl. He nodded his head towards his wife and grinned evilly. "Especially her."

This earned him an expected slap in the back of the head. Any other time the punishment may have been much worse for making fun of her age but she knew that he was trying to keep the mood light over what had the potential to be a depressing subject for the two of them. The centuries that had passed had made it easier to cope with and heal from, but that didn't mean it hadn't been crushingly hard at times and wasn't still. Being in the presence of someone carrying fragments of familiar souls had a way of tearing some of that scar tissue and reopening the wounds even if just a little. More so if those souls were more than just familiar. Time was supposed to heal all wounds, but evidently even several centuries wasn't enough to completely heal theirs.

"Still so rude after all this time," she lamented in mock sadness. "A barbarian through and through."

Under the table she bumped her knee against his leg in a gesture of thanks for cutting off her potential downturn. She wasn't the same as she was back then, she actually needed his help to keep herself to from falling prey to the despair of the past, she couldn't keep things like that at bay by herself anymore. They relied on each other that way a lot, which was good because they had been broken so many times now since the end of their worlds. No one could stand forever on their own against things that would tear them apart from the inside out. But so much of her earlier life had been spent in keeping her deeper feelings to herself and dealing with things on her own that it still bothered her a little even now that she seemed no longer capable of that. But so long as she had Ichigo, _her_ Ichigo, so long as they had each other, they would make it through anything.

"We've spent a lot of time travelling all over Remnant, training and hunting Grimm," he continued. "We finally decided to settle in one place for a while and Vale was a good fit for us. Not long after that we ran into Ozpin and Glynda."

"You know it really irks her when you call her by her first name," Yoruichi said. "She's probably cringing somewhere right now." She turned to Ruby. "He's never been one to show people proper respect when addressing them. And she thinks he's a delinquent. It's the hair and the scowl."

"Story of my life," he muttered.

"We pay them a visit every so often," she continued. "But mostly of our time has been spent on trips outside the kingdom looking for the biggest and oldest Grimm we can find and killing them."

Ruby was incredulous. "You intentionally go out looking for the most powerful and intelligent Grimm?"

"It's what our skills and abilities are best suited for," Ichigo said. "And the fewer of those old Grimm that are around, the better it is for everyone."

The oldest and most intelligent of the soulless beasts that roamed Remnant were to the more common Grimm what a Vasto Lorde was to a common Menos hollow. However, they weren't nearly as tough to kill as a Vasto Lorde was and for the two of them now, even a Vasto Lorde wouldn't be a huge challenge. Killing the most powerful and intelligent Grimm not only kept them from utilizing their weaker brethren to attack humans and Faunus in something resembling organized attacks, it sent a message to all of the Grimm that there was an even more dangerous pair of predators wandering Remnant. They might be soulless and often stupid, but even the Grimm had instincts and understood well the chain of predation and Ichigo and Yoruichi stood far above them at the top of that chain.

Ruby was pretty much speechless. Just how good and how strong were these two if their skills and abilities were best suited for dealing with the most dangerous of the Grimm? And the casual way they spoke about it...it was like it was no big deal to them! She supposed they could be lying, but she didn't think they were. Not because she was that good at reading people, she knew she wasn't, but for some reason she just felt like she knew they were telling her the truth.

"So you go out looking for Grimm like the one's I saw at Mountain Glenn?" she asked. As incredulous as she was, she was also fascinated. The part of her that loved hearing stories about Hunters and Huntresses wanted to hear more and they must have some great stories to tell.

"We heard about your trip there and what the White Fang was up to," Ichigo said. "Unfortunately we were in Mistral at the time. We killed a King Taijitu in the swamps there that makes the one that followed you into Vale look like a hatchling."

"What did you see in Mountain Glenn?" Yoruichi asked, before Ruby could get sidetracked into hearing that particular story.

"Doctor Oobleck said they were Goliath's," she answered. "They were huge...way taller than the trees they were walking through. I've never seen Grimm that big before."

Ichigo and Yoruichi shared a look. "How many?' she asked.

"Five or six?" Ruby answered, not exactly sure of the number.

"They're too close to the kingdom for my liking," Ichigo said. "Guess we know where we go the next time we head out."

"They sound pretty big," Yoruichi said. "But they shouldn't be too much trouble. We can run circles around them and we'll have at least two of them dead before they even know they're being attacked."

Ruby's jaw nearly hit the table. "Are you serious?"

"They may be quicker than you think when they get moving, but Goliath's are pretty useless against a human sized target," Yoruichi explained. "Their biggest threat is if they stampede through a settlement, otherwise they just look menacing."

"Both of us, our Semblance is speed just like yours Ruby," Ichigo told her. "We'll be moving too fast for them to keep track of us let alone touch us."

"You can use your Semblance throughout the fight without having to stop?" she asked incredulously, looking back and forth between them. They nodded. "Wow. I can't do that. I have to stop if I want to change directions and after a few dashes it wears down my Aura."

"Give it time," Yoruichi smirked. "You're only just getting started remember? And maybe if things work out I might be able to give you some pointers in the future."

"Really?!" she gushed. "That would be sooo cool!"

The one thing they had noticed about Ruby's Semblance on the couple of occasions they saw her use it, was that it seemed to be a mixture of Shunpo and Hirenkyaku. Which made sense if you considered that she had both Shinigami and Quincy in the make up of her soul. They could feel it when she used it and the clincher for the Quincy side of it was in the rose petals she left behind. They were made of Reishi. Somehow she was subconsciously forming those rose petals out of Reishi in the same manner that a Quincy could form a spirit bow out of it. Why it manifested that way and especially without a focal point like a Quincy Cross they didn't know, but their senses weren't lying to them.

Ever since they had awakened in this new world, this Remnant of what once was, they had seen manifestations of things they had known from before the collapse of the different dimensions. To them Aura and Semblance were this world's versions of Reiryoku and Reiatsu. They were virtually the same in what they were and how they worked. They also reflected the abilities a Shinigami would have in conjunction with their Zanpakuto or the use of Kido. The Faunus with their heightened instincts, senses, and animal traits had the most in common with the animalistic forms human souls usually took on when they became a Hollow, minus the hole and the drive to consume souls of course. Their Reiatsu even had the feel of a Hollow to it.

The Grimm, even without souls, felt like they had been influenced by Hell. Yoruichi had to take Ichigo's word on that one since he had been there and she had not. The lack of souls also made them hard to detect in the ways they were used to and they had to rely more heavily on their instincts and tracking abilities to hunt down the less obvious ones. Dust seemed to be some kind of amalgamation of both Reishi and Reiatsu. Little wonder those with some power could use it so well.

For them, they had retained all of their power from before the collapse and with all of the training and fighting they had done since they awakened they had gotten stronger. With the help of his inner spirits Yoruichi had even managed get the constant gusher that was Ichigo's leaking spiritual pressure down to what amounted to a trickle, at least for someone as powerful as he was.

But as powerful as some of the people were that they had come across over the years, none came close to their level and it added to an overall sense of isolation that they had. They were the last of what once was and knowing what they knew, how this all came to be, it made them feel even more alone where ever they went, even here in this quiet cafe full of people. No one else that they knew from before had survived. Once in a while they would find someone who had a piece of a familiar soul within them, at times it was easy to tell, other times you had to be around the person for a little while to sense it. That was why after even two other occasions of seeing Ruby it had taken the contact today to really confirm that she had part of the souls of Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki within her.

They both had people they wanted to find traces of. For Ichigo it was his family and all of his closest friends. For Yoruichi it was people like Kisuke and Tessai and Kukaku, and especially her Little Bee and her own little brother, but for both of them those so familiar and cherished souls had been elusive thus far. She was happy for Ichigo that he had finally found a trace of his sisters, and if they were right they knew where the other halves of the girls souls were and it shouldn't be too hard to check. Even if their souls were split as they were, she knew he would be happy that the twins were still together.

"Careful what you wish for Ruby," Ichigo warned. "She won't take it easy on you."

"I don't know about that," Yoruichi said teasingly. "She doesn't seem as hard headed as you were, I wouldn't have to beat the lessons into her. She might actually listen."

"Hey, I listened," he protested. "I just didn't always get what you were telling me."

"You sure you weren't just being a masochist?" she countered. "Don't worry Ruby, I wouldn't be any harder on you than what I thought you could handle."

"I like to train hard," Ruby declared proudly. "The harder I train the easier it is to fight for real. I want to be as strong and as skilled as I can be so that I can help people."

"Good to hear," Yoruichi said. "If you want to be good and stay good, you have to keep training and train hard. You've got the right attitude Ruby."

Ichigo smirked. He knew that Yoruichi loved to find people with talent and push them to make the most out their skills, to make them stronger and better than they ever thought they could be. They had spoken a few times before about offering their skills to a school like Beacon, maybe taking on some of the best and brightest of the students who went there and pushing them further. Beacon tended to attract some of the best students from all over Remnant and it was enticing to think what they could do with talented students like that. Considering who was sitting there with them now, maybe it was time to give it some serious thought again.

"So how are you liking your time at Beacon so far?" Ichigo asked.

For the rest of lunch and through dessert they talked to Ruby about her team, her friends and how she was handling life at Beacon as its resident underage prodigy. They even told her a couple of quick stories about their own adventures to whet the girl's insatiable appetite for tales of heroism. They knew she had been dying to hear some. As she talked it didn't take much for them to see that Ruby loved her friends and especially her team, and that her big sister was the sun in her sky. It was also clear that she seriously wanted to be the best team leader for them that she could be and that she was committed to keeping the people safe from the Grimm and whatever else wanted to do them harm.

"There she is," a girl's voice called out just as they were finishing desert. They looked up to see a well developed blonde waving in their direction. "Hey Ruby!"

The rest of Ruby's team, led by her sister, had arrived. And along with her so had the other halves of the souls of the Kurosaki twins. They could both feel it for sure now and Ichigo had to take a deep, settling breath to keep from showing how emotional that was threatening to make him.

"Ooh guys, come over here I want to introduce you to someone!" Ruby exclaimed. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

"We've been looking for you," the Schnee heiress huffed. "Would it hurt you to answer your scroll?"

Ruby frowned and snatched her scroll out of the pouch on her belt. "Low battery? But I just charged it this morning. It must be defective."

"I think you're the one that's defective," the white haired girl muttered. There was no malice behind it...and maybe even just the hint of a smile.

Maturely, Ruby responded by sticking out her tongue.

"So who are your friends there Ruby?" Yang asked. Those that knew her could easily identify the tone of voice as 'wary sister in protection mode'. Ichigo and Yoruichi could feel it in her Reiatsu and rolling off of her from the moment she arrived.

" Ah...this is Yoruichi Shihoin and her husband Ichigo Kurosaki," she told them. She smiled as she looked to them and gestured to the new arrivals. "These are my team mates," she began, her pride making her forget for a moment that they already knew who they were. "My partner, Weiss Schnee."

"Nice to meet you," Weiss said with the bearing of a well mannered noble.

"Blake Belladonna," she continued.

"Hello," Blake said with a polite nod.

"And my sister, Yang Xiao Long." The smile on her face easily conveyed her feelings for her older sibling.

"Yo!" Yang answered with a little wave.

"Nice to meet you all," Yoruichi responded with an easy smile.

"Likewise," Ichigo said. "Hope we didn't wreck your plans for the day by holding Ruby up. That would be my fault since I invited her to have lunch with us."

"How do you know her?" Yang asked, still looking to satisfy her protective instincts.

"Hehe..." Ruby began sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "I was trying to see what was going on over there," she gestured across the street to where the police were just finishing up. "And Ichigo kept me from falling headfirst down the stairs."

"You're such a klutz," Weiss huffed.

"Wow sis, I didn't know you had it in you," Yang said, her tone now becoming more relaxed and teasing. Helping Ruby had given them the benefit of the doubt. For now.

"Huh?" Ruby questioned, tilting her head cutely in her confusion.

"You know, the old 'tripping on the stairs so the hot guy will notice me' routine, Yang answered with a grin. "Didn't know you were looking for a boyfriend. And a married one at that."

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed, face turning crimson and waving around for emphasis. "It wasn't like that!"

"I knew you were desirable Ichigo," Yoruichi smirked, not missing Yang's usage of the word hot. "But I didn't know you had teenaged girls after you. Or that you would so readily respond by asking her to lunch." Why just tease one when she could tease two?

"Et tu Kitten?" he responded as he felt Yang's gaze just a little hard again.

"You always did have an eye for the cute and adorable ones and you've always had a lot of female admirers," she prodded evilly. Oh that had been so much fun, laying out for him all of the females that had been interested in him in their past while he had been so utterly clueless about it. "Such a player."

He just shook his head while Ruby was a sputtering mess. "Don't take her seriously," he advised the girls. "When she finds someone to tease she's like a cat toying with a mouse."

They did _not_ miss the odd look that crossed Blake's face.

"Sounds like you Yang," Weiss accused.

"I tease because I care," Yang smiled.

"It's so much fun when you have the right target," Yoruichi grinned, patting Ichigo on the head. He rolled his eyes while 'sort of' scowling. "The reactions are priceless."

"I know, right?" Yang agreed. "Besides, it's the big sister's job to tease the little sister. Especially when the 'cute and adorable' little sister is attracting guys like him."

"Yang!" Ruby protested, turning redder by the moment.

It had taken a long time, but not only had Ichigo finally become mostly immune to Yoruichi's teasing, he had picked up the bad habit from her and used it on occasion. "Maybe Ruby and I should just run away together to escape this insanity." Said girl's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.

Of course, he needed to remember who he was teasing with and almost anything could be a set up line for her. "Maybe you should take Yang with you Ichigo," Yoruichi purred. "She has been undressing you with her eyes this whole time. Think of it, how many guys have the fantasy of being with a pair of sisters?"

Yang nearly swallowed her tongue and was actually left speechless. Ichigo was a pretty good looking guy...and she thought she was being subtle damn it!

A slight chuckle came from Blake. "I think you may have met your match Yang."

"I'm surround by the perverted and the insane," Weiss muttered, throwing her hands up. Though it was amusing to see Yang rendered speechless, and she had to admit that Ichigo was rather handsome. Even the very flustered Ruby thought it was funny to see her sister get a bit of her own medicine.

"That tends to be normal around Yoruichi," Ichigo cracked as he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Haven't been hearing any complaints from you about the perverted part," she countered with a smirk as she leaned into him. "As for the insanity, what does that say about you since you're married to me?"

"Insanity runs in my family remember?" he smiled. "Luckily for me."

She turned her attention back to the girls. "So would you like to join us? You missed dessert but you're welcome to some coffee or tea. Our treat."

For the next hour and then some they all sat and talked. About Beacon and their training, about their friends and their preparations for the tournament at the Vytal Festival. The girls were as astonished as Ruby had been to find out that their hosts chose to hunt the biggest and most dangerous Grimm out there, and that they had the balls to fight back against and unbalance the White Fang, usually with nothing in the way of serious physical damage to them unless it was unavoidable, but disrupting their plans and operations none the less.

Yang had been quite happy to find out that Yoruichi was a fellow hand to hand fighter. She was even more surprised when Yoruichi told her she used her Aura to strengthen her hands and feet when she fought and didn't use any weapons other than her own body. It wasn't quite the truth of course and Yoruichi hated to lie about it, but it wasn't like she could tell her anything else. Blake was greatly interested that Yoruichi also employed speed and stealth to get to her opponents before they even knew she was there, and how according to Ichigo there wasn't a place in all of Remnant that she couldn't get into and out of again without being seen or caught. Everyone got a laugh when she likened Ichigo's fighting style to being like a thunderstorm. Booming explosions and big flashes of light with no subtlety at all. She was an artist and he was a wrecking ball.

Seemingly too soon it was time for the girls to leave. They needed to finish a couple of errands before catching the airship back to Beacon.

"Are you going to watch the tournament at the Vytal Festival?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Ichigo said. "Depends how long it takes us to track down and get rid of those Goliath's you told us about."

"And we might look around Mountain Glenn to see if anything interesting got left behind after your trip there," Yoruichi added.

"I hope you can make it," Ruby said. "We've gotten even better since you saw us fight that Paladin."

Yoruichi smiled. "We'll do our best to try and be there." It was obvious that they had made enough of an impression on her that she really wanted them to be there.

"I'm sure you guys will do great," Ichigo said, his tone turning a little more serious. "From what we've seen of the four of you in action, it's obvious that you all have a great talent for becoming Huntresses and if you keep working hard you could well become some of the best."

His compliment made them all smile and stand a little straighter. "But," he cautioned scowling, one hand reaching out to lay on end of the larger Zangetsu's hilt. "It isn't going to be easy physically or mentally. Being a Huntress or a Huntsman is hard, it's bloody, it's scary, and you will find yourself in positions you never thought you would ever be in whether your opponent is Grimm, human, or Faunus." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Back when I started out I found my self facing odds that made me question what I was doing, made me afraid to the point that it dulled my blade. I was trying to fight with my brain, to think my way past my opponents rather than using and trusting my instincts. I used my weapon as a tool rather than becoming the weapon itself, a lifetime away from how I am now."

His audience looked a little less certain now. They were smart girls and it was obvious that even at this early stage they had felt at least some of what he was talking about and they understood enough of it. They may be young and raw but they were warriors who had already drawn blood and fought for their lives.

"Luckily for me I had some really good people training me and looking out for me, but two of the closest to me gave me the foundation I needed to deal with all of that and progress, to never be satisfied with the strength I have and to always work to get stronger to protect what I love and look out for those who need someone to look out for them. One taught me to feel and trust my instincts, to use them to defeat every enemy before me, no matter how strong. The other told me something that has always helped me when things were at their worst, words that remind me of who and what I am and what I am trying to do. They are words that have helped me more than I can ever say and I want to pass them on to the four you in the hope that they can do the same for you."

He had their undivided interest and he felt the approval of his inner spirits. _'I would never have become what I am, or gotten to where I am if it weren't for the both of you. My partners who are me and I am them.'_

He looked each girl in the eye and began to speak once again, his spirits echoing his words in his mind. "Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate. These words have meant the difference between me living and dying more than once and the difference between giving up and carrying on. I hope they can have the same meaning to you that they have for me."

He was a little bit surprised that the first person that reacted to his words was Ruby. Maybe it was because she was just grateful to have received advice from an experienced Huntsman, maybe it was because she was a lot like he was and had a tendency to charge into things without a thought, but it seemed that those words may have truly resonated with her and she understood. He could see it in her eyes.

"We'll all remember that," she said with a smile, speaking as her team's leader. The others seemed to be thinking about his words. "Thank you Ichigo." She paused and blushed nervously, back to her awkward self. "And thanks again for saving me from falling down the stairs. Ooh, and thanks for lunch too. It was really good."

"My pleasure," he grinned, amused. She was just too adorable. He really hoped that the harshness of the world never completely took that from her.

"It was nice to meet you Yoruichi," she continued.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too Ruby," the mischievous were-cat smiled warmly. "And your team mates. And we _will_ try to get to the tournament if we can, but even if we don't you will see us again."

That seemed to make the little scythe wielder happy and once she and her team mates said their own polite goodbyes, they left. Between Ichigo's words to them and the earlier teasing, they would have a lot to think and talk about on the way back.

Yoruichi took Ichigo's hand in hers and they just sat there quietly for a few minutes. She was pretty sure that she knew what was on his mind and he would need a moment to centre himself and talk to his spirits.

"You know, for a while I thought I would never find Karin and Yuzu's souls," he quietly said after several minutes had passed. "By losing our worlds I always felt that it was them that I had failed the most. They had already lost Mom and they were afraid they would lose me and I couldn't keep the world safe for them. But to finally find them, to feel their presence and to know that they're still together with one another..." he tilted his head and looked at her. "Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to grab those two and hug them like I used to hug Karin and Yuzu?"

She chuckled. "Now that would have been a sight to see. Ruby would have been as red as her cape and Yang probably would have hit you hard enough to launch you into the harbour." Her smile waned. "It took so long before we ever felt the soul of anyone we knew, and this is the first time that we've felt and found the souls of anyone that was close to us. This gives me some hope that we can find more of them now."

He knew what was on her mind and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure we'll find Soifon and Yushiro somewhere. We've spent a lot of time out in the countryside and the wastelands where there aren't as many people. There are a lot of people in Vale so our odds have to be better." He frowned for a moment. "Speaking of which...and maybe I'm just being a hopeful idiot since we just found the souls of my sisters, but did you feel what I felt from Ruby's partner Weiss?"

She smirked. "You weren't imagining it. It was faint but it might get stronger as she grows in power."

"Confirming my sister's souls and finding the Midget's in the same day, and the three of them together like that..." he trailed off, not trusting his voice to stay steady.

"Rukia always was fond of Karin and Yuzu so maybe it's not that strange," she mused.

He smirked. "Goat Face always did call her his third daughter."

"And the other girl, Blake," she continued. "I would need a closer look for absolute confirmation, but I'm sure she's one of ours. Too bad she was hiding her ears."

'One of theirs'. One of their descendants from their own children they had given birth to better than three hundred years ago. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but it was one of the few instances where they hadn't thought things through. They had been aging slowly just like they would have in Soul Society, yet they never really thought about the consequences of it. About the time they had the twins, a boy and a girl, Ichigo stopped aging at all. He looked like he was in his mid twenties and she seemed to have not aged a day at all. The end of their aging process also meant the end of having anymore children. They had tried but it seemed no longer possible. They had no explanation for any of it. Half baked theories, but that was the best they could do.

At the time they assumed that their children would age just as slowly but that didn't turn out to be the case. As their children aged, they did not and it wasn't something that could be ignored. It was still an age of superstition then and ever since they had awakened from their long slumber they had had to keep on the move lest people take notice of the couple that never seemed to age and brand them as something evil or dangerous. Even after their children became more than old enough to look after themselves, they dared the odds and stayed around until they finally had no choice but to disappear from their lives.

It was a shitty thing and they hated it, but they had no choice and they couldn't bring themselves to go as far as to fake their deaths. Didn't mean that just disappearing hadn't hurt them any less though and they saw that as they stayed near, though unseen and they watched as their children had families of their own, and then those children had their own offspring. It was an exercise in the most excruciating pain. Watching your children, grandchildren, even great grandchildren age and die while you didn't age a day and couldn't be a part of their lives. It nearly drove them mad and to save the shreds of sanity they were still clinging to they became nomads once again just as they had been after awakening and stayed away from what for many years had been their home. It was a very long time before they could even speak the names of their children without becoming despondent and depressed.

The most unique thing happened though in regards to their daughter's birth. She was a Faunus. Since neither of them were the only reason they could come up with for it had to do with Yoruichi's unique ability to turn into a cat and something from that ability came through in her genetics. Their daughter had been born with black cat ears that had numerous purple hairs the same colour as her mother's hair. There were other black cat Faunus on Remnant, but there were no other bloodlines that had purple hairs in the fur of their ears. That particular strain it seemed was singularly unique. Kisuke probably could have unravelled how it happened, how their genetics, Yoruichi's feline ability and Ichigo's Hollow side, and the spiritual energy properties of Remnant itself combined to cause the mutation.

Since the Reiatsu of a Faunus had a slight feel of Hollow to it, they knew immediately that Blake was one even though they couldn't see her ears. But the hollow component within her Reiatsu had a very unique signature to it, a signature that was unmistakable to them. It felt exactly the same as Zangetsu. There was no mistake to them, Blake Belladonna was of their blood. Seeing her ears would be the second and final piece of solid proof.

"Zangetsu says her hollow Reiatsu feels like she's a direct descendant," he said. "A granddaughter more than thirty generations from origination."

"With all of this today it's beginning to feel like we were meant to come to Vale," she mused. "Like there's a reason why we're supposed to be here."

"With the way trouble always seems to find me, us, I'm not willing to bet it's just so we can happily find the souls from our past," he scowled.

"Pessimist," she smiled. "You never know, it could be. Just in this case it's so we can all be reunited to kick the bad guys asses again just like we did back then, even if you and I are the only ones that will know it."

"Think we should go see Ozpin again?" he asked. "You and I both know there's something going on and the last time we talked to him it seemed like he was feeling us out. Almost like he was looking for allies."

"I think he suspects that there is something different about us," she began. "Scratch that, I think he knows there is, but he has no idea what. He doesn't see us as a threat or else he would have asked us to stay away from the Emerald Forest on initiation days." She grinned evilly. "And it didn't do any good for him to have Qrow Branwen try and get any info out of me."

"I almost felt sorry for him," Ichigo laughed. "Him trying to chat you up at the bar and get you drunk enough to spill your secrets...it was all I could do not to start laughing and give away that we were on to him."

"He gave it a good try," she chuckled. "The pick up lines were pretty lame but it was an interesting game. He actually managed to keep his secrets when I went fishing on him."

"Good thing we didn't tell Ruby that her favourite Uncle tried hitting on you and that you drank him under the table," he said. "I wonder how long it took his eyebrows to grow back?"

They got lost in their snickering for a moment. It had been quite the drinking contest and he had been a formidable opponent. Well, not as formidable as Yoruichi's old drinking partner Kukaku, but worthy none the less. She had been so hammered by the time he passed out and of course she just couldn't resist pranking him by shaving off his eyebrows. She had been so hung over the next day that she could do nothing when Ichigo took the opportunity to tease and aggravate her. He paid for it of course but it had been worth it for him to get a little revenge against his wife.

"Just had a funny thought," she said, affectionately swinging their clasped hands back and forth between them. "The Ryoka Squad as a team attending Beacon. I can just imagine the fits you Chad, Uryuu and Orihime would have given the staff. Particularly Professor Goodwitch."

"Especially if I had a certain black cat riding on my shoulder," he smirked. "You were a charter member of that group too. I'm pretty sure you would have found a way to steal her riding crop and do something with it." He raised their clasped hands and kissed the back of hers. "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

"I thought we might go enjoy the park now that we've cleared the troublemakers out of it," she smiled. "Then maybe after some dinner we can go back to the apartment and have a little fun."

He kissed her. "You got it. But, we'll have to get back to business pretty soon."

"Tomorrow you can open us a garganta and we can have a different kind of fun and go hunt some Grimm in Mountain Glenn," she said. She too agreed that there was business to be taken care of, especially if Grimm of that size were lingering that close to the kingdom. "After things today though I just want to spend some easy time with my Strawberry and then get all sweaty with him."

He smiled and helped her to her feet. "Whatever my Kitten wants."

If there was one thing they had learned it was to take the quiet times when they came and enjoy them because the chaos would find you soon enough. It always did.

* * *

 **AN:** Like I said at the top, this was a bit of an experiment. I wanted to show a little of how I saw the worlds of Bleach influencing Remnant, and a meeting between some principle characters in a relaxed setting. This may or may not turn into something else. Don't really know. As mentioned I have some different ideas hanging around but nothing is really developed very much.

I have a half-assed idea in mind for a piece where Ichigo and Yoruichi show up in time to fight Adam and Cinder respectively, keeping Yang intact and Pyrrha from dying. Probably wouldn't be much of a fight since Ichigo and Yoruichi should be able to mop the floor with them.

It also kind of fun to play around with the ideas of whose soul from Bleach could end up as part of which character from RWBY, even if it doesn't greatly come into play.

Anyway, I hope it didn't suck and I hope you enjoyed this and would be so kind as to leave a review. Fell free to check out my other stories too...the last three or four especially could use the traffic.


	2. Chapter 2

****Disclaimer:**** RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I own nothing of it and am only playing in this wonderful world Monty gave us.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. I don't own that either and am just playing around in that world too.

Damn, yet another upload. I'm on a roll. I hope I can keep going like this through 2018.

 **A Chance Encounter**

 _ **Chapter 2**_

Yoruichi stretched languidly as the early morning sun filtered through the curtains and reached across the bed. A pleasant little breeze ruffled those curtains as it wafted through the open window and played across her naked body. It also prompted her to feel the dried sweat against her skin and stirred the aroma of the night before when she and Ichigo had spent a considerable amount of time making love. Actually it was more like they fucked like horny rabbits but there was a whole lot of love to be felt regardless.

She glanced to her left and smiled at the peaceful look on his face as he slept. Her brave, heroic, and handsome Strawberry. It had taken a long time for him to be able to look that peaceful when he slept. It had been that way for both of them actually and fortunately nightmares were no longer nearly as frequent a visitor as they once were. There had been scores of nights were one or the other or both of them would awaken screaming and they would desperately cling to one another until the sun reappeared to light the world again.

She leaned over and kissed the love of her life on the forehead before rolling the other way and getting out of bed. Intertwining her fingers she stretched her arms out above her head as she arched up onto her toes, stretching the rest of the kinks out of her legs and back before grabbing her clothes for the day and quietly padding off to the shower. Turning on the water and letting it warm up, she stood before the mirror and noted with amusement that she was sporting a few just noticeable hickeys in various places. Apparently Ichigo gave as good as he got last night which was fine with her. It was more fun that way and it always made her chuckle when she thought back to how he used to be in comparison from the time they met to how he was now.

Stepping into the shower, she set about washing her hair as she thought about the fun they had last night. There had been a little bit of desperation there since the events of the day had stirred up the ghosts of the past but it wasn't as bad as it usually was. Mostly it had just been a hunger for each other and a hunger that they had most definitely sated, for now at least. She both loved and needed to feel his touch be it during a good romp or sitting in the park like they did after lunch yesterday as she leaned back against him while he sat with his back to a tree with his arms wrapped loosely around her. That had been perfection and she knew that just about anyone else that had known her would have been struck with disbelief that something like that meant so much to her and that she truly needed it. She could almost see the silly grin on Kisuke's face and hear the teasing tone of his voice. He'd never let her hear the end of it and she wasn't sure who would have been worse, him or Kukaku.

She was still a strong, confident, and proud woman, but all of those things had been dented by their ordeal and she found that she needed someone to lean on whereas she never had needed to before. Her catlike nature had meant that long periods of solitude hadn't bothered her but now she couldn't stand to be alone and she knew Ichigo was no different in that regard. Despite how long it had been since they awakened in this world and despite all that they had seen and done, they still felt utterly alone and they couldn't stand it. They had been broken, badly broken and cracks reappeared every now and then but they healed each other and got through it, coming out of every trial just a little bit stronger.

She smiled as she finished with her hair and began soaping up the rest of her body. Being alone was something she would never have to worry about. Ichigo would never leave her and she would never leave him and they would both move heaven and earth to make sure they were never separated. There wasn't a single person or thing on this world that could force them apart and the wrath of hell would come down upon the head of anyone who tried. Despite the trauma of the past and the difficulties in dealing with it they were happy. Finding the current vessels of the souls of Ichigo's sisters and Rukia had been a sobering thing but it had also been good. Even she had felt a soothing effect after some of the initial angst and she hadn't been particularly close with Yuzu, Karin, or Rukia.

But they were familiar and while they were missed they were also confirmation that the cycle of life, death, and rebirth still continued in some way, that there was at least one thing they hadn't lost when everything else went to hell and beyond. It was good to know that their souls hadn't been lost to the maelstrom and the familiarity was a salve to the almost constant feeling of isolation they felt. It also gave her hope that Soifon's...Shaolin's soul had survived and that her little brother Yushiro's soul had survived. That hope was good enough for now but she dearly wanted to find them someday and know for sure that they were still around. At times it was kind of amusing to speculate about other familiar souls and especially what they might be like if they now resided in a body of the opposite gender, or with a personality that was the opposite of what they had known. There were a number of times when she and Ichigo would play that game, usually when they'd had a few drinks and they would invariably end up laughing their asses off.

Rinsing off, she got out of the shower and grabbed a towel for her hair, ruffling it vigorously before towelling herself off. Picking up her hair dryer she went to work on her long mane. She could have used her reiatsu to dry it out, a handy trick she learned from her mother that was very useful when you were running late for some inane clan function and needed to get presentable in a hurry, but she didn't want to wake Ichigo. She had even thought a few times of cutting her hair short like she used to wear it when she was a Captain but she was used to it being long and Ichigo liked the way she looked with it done up in the high ponytail she wore it in. She liked the way he had let his grow out too, like it was after his dangai training and she defused every thought that ever arose about cutting it.

Finishing with drying her hair, she put it up in the ponytail and then got dressed. A pair of denim cut off shorts, a dark purple tank top that left a few inches of her belly exposed, and a short sleeved white blouse left unbuttoned. Treading softly back to the bedroom she picked up her wallet, scroll, and keys from the dresser. Letting a soft gaze fall on her husband for a moment, she smiled before heading out, putting on a pair of leather sandals before leaving the apartment. He'd join her later after he was done being lazy and got himself cleaned up.

They lived on the tenth and top floor of a new apartment building. Foregoing the elevator she entered the stairwell and looked down the centre opening. Sensing and seeing no one, with a smirk she vaulted the rail and plummeted down the gap, coming to a soft and soundless landing at the bottom. She loved doing that whenever she could but it wasn't a good idea to go freaking out the neighbours so she only did it when there was nobody around to see it. Exiting the stairway, she walked unhurried across the small lobby and out the front door and onto the street.

Sticking her hands in her pockets and hanging a right, she strolled leisurely up the street, relishing the feel of the warm sun soaking into her skin. She liked this city, liked walking around it and exploring it in both her human and cat forms. It had a pleasantness to it that appealed to both her and Ichigo. They had lived in and travelled through just about every major settlement on Remnant and they were finding that Vale seemed to suit them the best. Vacuo was probably more dangerous than welcoming and Mistral was a place where anything and everything, both good and bad could be found in equal measure and for the right price. Atlas was uptight and full of stuffy nobility and reminded her far too much of her early life. She may have been a noble herself but she never cared for people who flaunted and crowed about their wealth and status.

Things in Vale seemed to be a little more balanced and not given to wild extremes. Sure, it had its elite snobs and backstreet lowlifes but it was a more reasonable mix and it was a nice place to live. Sure enough they had needed to find a place to settle, at least for a while. The nomadic lifestyle wasn't something that they really liked but it had largely been necessary. At first it was because of their immortal nature. By never aging you could only stay in one place for so long before people began to notice and you couldn't just move a few miles down the road. You had to move a long distance and keep from being seen in any one geographical area for a generation or two, only going back if the hunt or circumstances took you there and then you took great precautions to avoid being seen anymore than necessary.

They knew that someday their secret would come out, anyone who studied history close enough with a good eye for details would eventually find enough references to people matching their descriptions appearing throughout history. While they had tried to not be well known, that didn't mean that people hadn't kept journals of their own experiences and made note of people they met. They had also been present for a number of notable historic events, be they wars or large scale battles against the Grimm. They even knew of a few people they had met in those instances who went on to be fairly prominent historians so it was almost assured that they would appear in the history books somewhere. They had never bothered to look for those instances, though they probably should have.

If it wasn't for they fact that any mention of them would always have them together they could brush some of it off as being stories of their ancestors. Singularly it might work but not when they always lived and fought by each others side. No level of coincidence could ever be believable for that to work. Someday it would catch up to them and they would deal with it as it evolved, but for now they just wanted to settle down. The feeling of needing to belong somewhere and call it home rather than restlessly wandering about had caught up to them and it was a good thing. They needed it, they needed the stability of having a home, of having something tangible that wasn't a temporary lodging in an inn somewhere or a campsite in the wilderness. They needed to try and finally lose the sense of disconnection they had with this world.

They had been here for a few months now and they were finding a comfortable routine to get into. While the Grimm didn't always cooperate, they tried to make sure they had their weekends free to relax. For far too long they had gone on extended hunts, going day after day after day without taking a break. It was worse when they were dealing with the fallout from their past and they would hunt down and annihilate the Grimm with an almost fanatical zeal, as if they could outrun their pain by relentlessly chasing and killing the soulless beasts and somehow purge themselves of their own darkness through them.

It didn't work of course, that pain and darkness was always there somewhere and you couldn't outrun it or purge it in blood when it showed itself. After so long it was high time that they tried to deal with it once and for all and stopped trying to run from it. They had been spending a lot of time talking about it, about the collapse. They already knew where mistakes had been made and where responsibilities had not been met, they had hashed that over individually and together ever since they had awakened. It was well past time that they finally learned how to forgive themselves for being unable to prevent the destruction of the worlds they knew. To do that they needed to slow things down and toss a little bit of normal into the mix.

When they weren't hunting Grimm or White Fang, they tried to do everyday normal things. They walked around the city, they went shopping, they went for dinner or sat at an outdoor cafe to spend a quiet evening. They went to movies and museums, went to concerts and street festivals. Sometimes they just stayed in and watched television or Ichigo would give her a cooking lesson...and make bad jokes about turning the Goddess of Flash into a domestic goddess. Cooking was not a talent of hers though she didn't mind parading around the house for him wearing nothing but an apron, but she did enjoy trying and Ichigo was patient and a good teacher. All of these things were exactly what they needed. It was normalcy and it allowed them to reconnect with society and finally start working on healing their old wounds.

Part of that was her now normal Sunday morning routine of going for a walk to a local diner for breakfast. Well, seven blocks may not be exactly in the neighbourhood, but that was a small and irrelevant point. Besides, the food was good and made the trip well worth it. As was usual, there weren't a lot of people out and about yet at this time of the morning so things were quiet. As much as she did like the city, it was good now and then to not hear the usual assault of sounds that came with it and it made her walk that much more enjoyable.

As she got closer to the diner there were more shops and she always spent time window shopping, particularly at the nice little lingerie store she had discovered. She always liked to find things to tantalize her dear Strawberry with and lingerie was one of her favourites. Judging by the displays it looked like they had some impressive new merchandise and one display in particular caught her eye. She'd have to stop by again on her way home when they were open and have a look. Just thinking of the smouldering look she would see in Ichigo's eyes when he saw her wearing that gave her a warm tingle and made her smile.

After one more block she was nearly at her destination. With virtually no traffic and none of Vale's finest around to ticket her for it, she jaywalked across the last intersection. The diner was situated on the corner and was what could be considered to a be a classic set up like you might see in the movies. For good reason too because the owner was a movie buff and had set it up that way on purpose. The entry itself was right on the corner of the building and inside there was a long L shaped counter with fixed stools and a row of booths lined the walls along the windows. The place was bright and clean, immaculate really since the owner would have it no other way.

Said owner, Taiga or Tai for short to those she allowed to call her as such, was a wolf Faunus and a former Huntress of considerable reputation. She was a tall, middle aged woman with natural silvery ash blonde coloured hair which she wore in a busy ponytail resembling a wolf's tail. She was still fit enough to be a Huntress but circumstances had led her to retire and open the diner instead.

She believed in equal rights for the Faunus but she vehemently disagreed with the current methods of the White Fang. She had actually been a member of the organization when it was still a peaceful group. The tip of her left Wolf ear had been torn off and there was a scar on the left side of her neck from a knife. While she had had run ins with humans who disliked the Faunus, it was other Faunus who had attacked and injured her because she was not afraid to speak out against the White Fang's violent methods. Their attack killed her husband and severely wounded her son who had been a promising student at Beacon. They nearly killed her as well but by the time the fight was over eight White Fang goons lay on the ground suffering grievous wounds.

There was clear evidence from a bank's outside surveillance camera that the White Fang had initiated the unprovoked attack and her defence of herself and her family was deemed to be appropriate self defence. It was clear that she could have easily killed them all but she didn't. After the incident was cleared up and she had time to grieve her loss, she opened the diner. The damage done to her son's right leg ended his hopes of becoming a Huntsman, but he had other talents. She ran the restaurant and he cooked, gliding around the kitchen on a custom built wheeled stool that allowed him to work and keep the weight off of his bad leg. He could walk with a cane but standing for long periods of time wasn't doable for him.

Yoruichi found Tai behind the counter waiting on a couple of Beacon students who had dropped by for breakfast. Another student who worked for her on the weekends was tending one of the half dozen occupied tables.

"Morning Tai," Yoruichi greeted.

"The usual?" the owner asked as she smiled and waved at one of her favourite customers.

"The usual," the were-cat confirmed as she moved toward her normal spot at the far end of the foot of the L shaped counter. She had a good view of the rest of the diner and the front door from there. There was a bit of a surprise waiting for her this morning though. Two seats away from hers sat Glynda Goodwitch, sipping on a freshly poured cup of coffee.

"Professor," she greeted the blonde as she sat with her back against the wall and leaning her right elbow on the counter. Tai's son Lon, his wolf ears perking up, smiled and waved at her from the kitchen and she returned the gesture. "It's been a while and I haven't seen you in here before."

"I don't get here as often as I would like and usually it's on a Saturday," Beacon's combat instructor answered. "I like to check in on them. Tai is a friend and Lon was one of my best students."

"You'll have to drag Ozpin out here again soon," Tai cut in as she placed a tall, cold glass of milk in front of Yoruichi. "He doesn't get out enough."

"I try but you know how he is," Glynda responded. "And with the Vytal Festival coming up he's even busier."

"Maybe I'll pay him a visit then," Tai said. "He seems to keep forgetting that he can eat here on my dime anytime he wants and that means that I expect him to do so now and then."

After the incident with the White Fang it was Ozpin who stepped in and helped arrange for the funeral for her husband as well as the medical care for her and her son. He claims that a private donor paid for it all but she knew darn well that he had paid for it and done all the leg work. He always denied it but she insisted on paying him back by letting him eat for free at her diner. She knew that he wasn't being intentionally disrespectful by not coming around very often, and she knew that he was indeed busy but even Ozpin needed to take a little time for himself every now and then, even if it was just time enough for a meal outside of Beacon.

"I'll let him know," Glynda said. "And if necessary I will badger him relentlessly until he agrees. You should see him by the end of the week."

"I'll be counting on you," Tai said with a smirk as she went to tend to another customer.

"Your husband isn't with you this morning?" Gylnda asked the were-cat who was taking a sip of her milk.

"Lazybones is still in bed," she grinned. "I wore him out last night."

Glynda nearly spit out the sip of coffee she had just taken and turned to look at her, a slight tinge of red colouring her cheeks that Yoruichi didn't miss.

"Actually, it was mutual, but I get up early on Sunday to come and have breakfast. He'll be along later...if he can move."

"I don't believe I need to know about your sex life with your husband Ms. Shihoin," the blonde countered.

She waved her hand dismissively. "It's just Yoruichi. And I know you don't like Ichigo but I really would prefer it if you would use his name instead of always referring to his as my husband. Besides, our sex life is quite interesting. Ichigo is a real stud."

Glynda sighed, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. "I don't dislike Ichigo," she began, his name sounding foreign on her tongue. "But he has the most annoying habit of being overly familiar."

"He's always been that way and he will never change," Yoruichi explained. "It's not a matter of disrespect. Well okay sometimes it is but that's not the case here. He rarely will ever be formal with anyone, especially if they keep insisting upon it. He doesn't like people addressing him formally so he tends not to do so in return. It's hardwired into his genetics."

"What do you mean?" Goodwitch asked, finding the statement curious.

"We both come from a noble lineage," Yoruichi began. "While I was raised with all of the training, rules, and formalities of becoming the head of my clan, Ichigo was not. He didn't even know he was of noble blood until he was seventeen and only then because events forced his father to finally tell him. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. His clan was never stuck on all of the formalities and ass kissing politics that come with nobility. Even though he wasn't raised by the clan, he's just like them...except for the scowl and the hair. His hair colour comes from his mother and people used to accuse him of dying it and he ended up in a lot of fights."

"Why do I have no trouble believing that?" Glynda commented.

Yoruichi smirked. "People have always branded him as a delinquent or a thug but he never started any of the trouble. He didn't start the fights but he sure as hell ended them. The scowl came from that. I didn't care for all of the clan bullshit either so its little wonder that one of his cousins was one of my best friends."

"I am quite familiar with the names of many of the noble families of Remnant," Glynda began, her curiosity obviously piqued by Yoruichi's claims. "But I have never heard of the houses of Shihoin or Kurosaki."

"Ichigo's clan goes by a different name, Kurosaki was his mother's name," Yoruichi responded. "But both his clan and mine are long gone now so it doesn't matter. It's just me and him. But enough about that, my instincts tell me that you being here this morning isn't just a coincidence."

The Professor sighed. "As much as I would like to say otherwise, I cannot I'm afraid."

"Okay," Yoruichi said amicably. "So what's on your mind?"

"It seems that young Miss Rose was quite enamoured with meeting the two of you yesterday," Glynda began.

"We ran into her by chance and she had lunch with us," Yoruichi said. "She told you?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, I heard her telling her friends in Team JNPR about it after they returned to Beacon." She paused. "And did the two of you really need to tell her that you purposely hunt the biggest and oldest of Grimm? She seemed disturbingly fascinated by that and has prompted the same response from one of her more hyperactive friends."

Yoruichi's shrug was unrepentant. "Seemed like she wanted to hear a story so we gave her one."

Goodwitch sighed. "So how did you manage to defeat a King Taijitu that large anyway? I missed that part of her retelling."

"I attacked one head and Ichigo attacked the other and we kept them as far apart as we could," the were-cat explained. "That way when one end tried to move to attack it affected how the other end was able to move and severely limited what it could do. We didn't allow it to coordinate its movements." She smirked. The other woman was doing her best to try and hide it but it was clear that she had been interested in hearing the story. Truth be told, they could have just overpowered the two headed snake in no time, but where was the fun in that? "So, back to Ruby..."

Glynda recomposed herself. "She is quite a fan of weaponry and when she was describing the swords your husband...Ichigo carries, one of her friends inquired further about it and about the two of you. It seems that either through her studies back in Mistral or through reading on her own she came across descriptions in some historical texts that were very similar."

 _'Here it comes, and sooner than I figured,'_ Yoruichi thought. "Okay," she said, giving nothing away. "I would imagine there are many instances where people carry weapons that might be similar to something from the past."

"While that is true," the Professor conceded. "The same descriptions don't tend to appear over multiple generational time frames as in this instance unless they are handed down and I have noticed that his blades are in immaculate condition. Not the type of condition one would expect an heirloom to be in."

Yoruichi took another sip of her milk. "Good point," she said, delighting in the fact that she seemed to be slightly flustering the no nonsense combat instructor. "What else?" The other woman seemed to be slightly taken back. Yoruichi grinned. "I know you wouldn't have come fishing without more bait and hooks than that."

Glynda took a sip of her coffee and readjusted her posture on the stool. "There were also varying descriptions of the sword's wielder. There were a number of differences between them but one thing was consistent. The person in question always had bright orange hair. Also, in nearly every account he was always in the company of a woman whose description would easily match your own."

"At least he has good taste," she cracked.

"I spoke with our history expert, Dr. Oobleck," Glynda continued, giving her a mild glare. "It seems that when we all first met you and Ichigo something about the two of you reminded him of something he had been reading at the time. With his duties at the school he didn't have a lot of free time to look into it but when he did he began to find multiple incidences of these description going back for a couple of hundred years. Over the last few months he has been working on a project about the history of Huntsmen and Huntresses for the Vale Museum that will run during the Vytal Festival. He had access to the oldest books the museum has in its collection and continued to find similar descriptions going back several hundred more years and from all across Remnant."

A very evil idea popped into the were-cat's head. She gave Glynda a blank stare then did her best to start looking distraught. "So...you're telling me that my Ichi is actually immortal...and that I'm just the latest in a long line of lookalikes whose young and nubile bodies he uses up and discards as they age? How could he? He-he said I was his only true love!"

Glynda froze like someone had hit the pause button and it was all she could do to not go slack jawed or fall off her stool. Denials, excuses, even brushing it aside she expected. This however she did not. She closed her eyes in frustration however when the woman before her suddenly burst out laughing, the distraught look on her face gone like it was never there.

"You...you should have seen the look on your face," Yoruichi wheezed.

Irritated, she went back to her coffee. There was little point trying to say anything to the mocha skinned woman until she had laughed herself out.

"You really need to loosen up a little Professor," Yoruichi scolded, still grinning. "Being so uptight all the time isn't good for your health." Before she could reply Yoruichi became serious herself. "I know what you're probing at, and since you were able to present that all to me without looking like you thought it was the stupidest concept you had ever heard of, can I assume that you are not unfamiliar with strange truths that should be unbelievable...and are to most people?"

"...That...would be an accurate assumption to make, yes," she answered, a bit taken by surprise. "I have had cause to come to know of a great number of things that were supposed to be mere myths or fairy tales."

"Like the man who sent you here?" Yoruichi asked. Glynda's eyes went wide but before she could speak she waved her off. "Don't worry, I'm not asking who or what Ozpin is but I do know that he's not normal. His soul feels different, like it's muddled or has multiple layers to it that others don't."

"You can feel a person's soul?" Something about that sent a shiver down her spine.

"As easily as breathing," Yoruichi answered. "And to answer your unasked question...yes."

Glynda was somewhat taken aback. "I'm not sure if I'm more surprised by you confirming that you and Ichigo are the people in the historical accounts, or that you admitted to it so easily."

Yoruichi sighed, her eyes taking on a far off look as she idly ran her finger around the rim of her glass. "We've known for a long time that this day would eventually come, when someone would put it all together. It sounds outlandish but we've seen enough in our time, seen and heard enough about other people that did or supposedly had abilities and traits that others do not who would think it entirely possible that we're the ones from the stories. Because of it we've had to live a rather nomadic life. Stay in one place for too long and people begin to wonder why you don't age." She looked back up at the Huntress and Glynda notice a momentary look of weariness cross her features. "We're tired of that, of not having a place we can really call home. We're tired of trying to stay a step ahead of everyone so that the truth doesn't come out." She smirked. "Ichigo and I actually talked about this yesterday after meeting Ruby, that maybe if someone did figure it out it would be time to just admit it and then deal with the consequences as they came."

"I'm sorry to be the one to put you in that position then," Glynda apologized.

Yoruichi waved it off. "It's fine, like I said it was bound to happen. The only question is though, why did Ozpin want to know? Simply curiosity, wondering if we are a threat, or does he need us for something? Or maybe all three? I'm betting on all three with an emphasis on need."

Glynda's eyes widened, pretty much confirming her hunch. When she saw the knowing smirk on the purplenette's face she knew she had just unwittingly confirmed it for her. "How did you know?" she said with a sigh.

Yoruichi laughed. "I know because wherever and whenever my dear Ichigo is concerned trouble will always find him." Her look became deadly serious and there was pride in her voice. "He's the blade that cuts the chains of fate. His very name means, 'he who protects'. It's who he is and what he does and he's deadly serious about it."

"I'm afraid the threat isn't a small one," the Huntress warned.

"When is it ever," Yoruichi said. "End of the world...been there, done that." She noted the expression on the Professor's face. She picked up her glass for another sip. "Hn, figures."

 _'Just what have we stumbled upon with these two?'_ Glynda wondered. _'Just who or what are they?'_

"I assume that Ozpin would like to meet with us?" Yoruichi asked.

"If you are agreeable to it," Goodwitch responded. "He is not looking to force anything."

"That's good," Yoruichi warned. "Since trying to force us into something would be the worst mistake he could make." Ichigo was not so easily swayed anymore but she would be damned if she even gave anyone the chance to try. She still bore the guilt for her role in getting him to fight the afterlife's battles and one way of making up for that was to make sure he didn't get blindsided or talked into anything. Unlike back then, she would make sure he got all the information to know the situation before he got involved.

The Professor didn't especially like the threat that was implied but Ozpin had warned her of as much. Unless they were total fabrications, the myths involving these two suggested they were powerful and had been around for a very long time. In his own experiences Ozpin well knew that those factors could lead them to not want to be overly involved with things and especially not if they were just trying to live a relatively peaceful life. She wondered if her boss knew more than he was telling, but if so he wasn't saying.

"He is willing to reveal a few things in return for what you have already confirmed to me," she explained. "How much either side reveals beyond that is open for negotiation."

"There won't be a negotiation," Yoruichi said. "We will either be in or out dependant on what he chooses to reveal to us. Without talking to Ichigo I can't promise any more than that."

Goodwitch nodded. "I suppose that's fair."

"Food's up!" Taiga announced as she approached with Yoruichi's order.

Glynda's eyes nearly bugged out. The breakfast plate that the retired Huntress set down in front of the dark skinned woman was known as the 'Hungry Huntsman'. It was piled high with scrambled eggs, diced potatoes fried in butter, bacon, sausage, ham, and toast. The woman before her was tiny, hardly bigger than some of her youngest students. She'd be lucky to hit five foot two and had likely never reached a hundred pounds in her life...however long that was. She was eyeing the huge plate of food with glee.

"You cannot possibly be able to eat all of that," she said in disbelief.

"Not only will she eat it, she'll be having pancakes once her hubby gets here," Taiga smirked. "He is on the way right?"

"He should be up by now and on his way," the were-cat confirmed as she unwrapped her utensils from the napkin they came with. She turned to Glynda. "I have a very high metabolism. And I did burn a _lot_ of energy last night," she added with a smirk.

Taiga laughed as she walked off to tend to another customer and Glynda just sighed. "I'll leave you to it then."

"Give us a couple of days," Yoruichi said before digging in. "I'm pretty sure I know what our answer is going to be but I will not give it until I talk to Ichigo."

Glynda nodded. "Fair enough. I'll let Ozpin know. And again, I am sorry."

"Don't blame yourself for the inevitable," Yoruichi told her. "It was going to be a bit of a surprise whenever it came. Today, years from now, it wouldn't have mattered."

Glynda paid for her coffee then left.

* * *

Her plate was nearly empty by the time Ichigo arrived, clad in a dark blue t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. As usual he greeted the waitress when he entered, then waved to Taiga and Lon. A cup of coffee was on the counter by the time he got to his seat. Yoruichi was almost surprised when he sat down.

"Never seen you so lost in thought while stuffing your face," he cracked as he stirred cream and sugar to his cup.

She popped the last of her toast in her mouth and reached for her glass of milk. "I had a visitor waiting for me this morning who gave me a lot to think about."

He stopped and glanced at her. "Who?"

"Professor Goodwitch."

He stopped in mid stir and looked at her. "Am I going to wish I had something a little stronger to drink than this when you tell me why?"

She told him what the Professor had told her and he did indeed wish he had a bottle of sake in front of him instead of a cup of coffee, as good and as strong as it was. "Well, that confirms what we thought," he said with a sigh when she finished. "That there is something going on _and_ that Ozpin knew that there was something different about us."

"Have we been ducking the bigger issue Ichigo?" she asked seriously. "We've killed a lot of Grimm, taken down a lot of bad guys and disrupted the White Fang wherever we could. We've done a lot of good things. But we've seen a lot of odd things, heard things and when we first met Ozpin that all clicked together and led us to believe that something was going on. Yet we never looked into anything, not before we met him and not since."

"You've been thinking about that too huh?" He sighed again. "I think in the back of our minds we've recognized all of this and tried to bury it. All of the little things began to feel too familiar but instead of dealing with it or looking into it we'd go kill even more Grimm, take down even more crooks and kick more White Fang ass and feel like we were doing enough and so we wouldn't have to think about it. We wouldn't have to stop and think that people might be dying while we were afraid of the past repeating itself."

"Blunt, but not wrong," she agreed. "We both know that we're afraid of failing this world like we think we did the last one. By doing nothing we turn that fear into a self fulfilling nightmare."

"I guess that means we had better get involved then." he said. "When we finally pulled ourselves back together we swore to protect this world and it seems we've been half assing it. That's not who we are."

She smirked. "You're right, it's not and I'm ashamed to think that were were indeed half assing it. It's been so long and I thought we really had finally put what we saw as our failure behind us and were forgiving ourselves. But that wound etched itself right into our bones it seems and evidently it still isn't healed yet."

"Maybe now it will," he said. "Maybe this will be the thing that gets the last of that poison out of us. Not just remembering and keeping the promise we made to this world, but becoming part of it again instead of lurking around the edges and living like we don't belong here." He looked into her eyes. "As bad as I am about carrying the blame and responsibility for things, I just can't keep doing it Kitten. I'm tired of it and these last few months that we've been here in Vale have shown me that we can start living again. Really living, not just existing and walking this world like we're serving a sentence. That alone, if nothing else is worth fighting for."

She put an arm around his shoulders and leaned her head against his. "My wonderful, philosophical Strawberry. You're right and I couldn't have said it better myself. I miss living rather than just existing and I think our sentence is over. Yeah, we lost everything and we've been punishing ourselves for it for centuries even when we thought we had stopped. It's past time that we did and over these last few months since settling in here I feel better than I have in a long time and I know you do too."

He kissed her and they moved apart again. "You were right yesterday when you said that maybe we were meant to come here. There's a need for the world and for us personally here. So, what did you give Goodwitch for an answer?"

"I told her that I was pretty sure what our answer would be but I wouldn't give it to her until I talked to you," she answered. "I almost told her no on the spot. Nearly started having flashbacks about you getting pushed into fighting the afterlife's battles and being an accomplice to it. One thing's for sure though, I'm going to wring every last drop of information out of them. I will not see you, us, get into something ever again without knowing exactly what's going on and why."

He smiled. "I pity them then because you're relentless."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled back. "I told her to give us a couple of days. It might take that long for Ozpin and anyone he lets in on it that long to digest that we are the people from the historical accounts."

"To think, we were essentially outed by a first year Huntress and her friends," he lamented. "Did Goodwitch say which one of Ruby's friends recognized the descriptions of us and Zangetsu?

"All she really said was that they probably read about it during their studies in Mistral so my money is on that tall, sexy redhead," she said with a bit of mischief in her voice.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Sexy huh? You talking her looks or her skills because I know you'd love to get your hands on that level of talent and see where you can push it to."

"Both actually," she answered with a wink. "But you're right, I would like to see what she can develop into. She's way ahead of the rest of the first years already."

"Think that's the way we should go?" he asked. "I mean, we'd be fighting too of course, but if it becomes an option should we act as instructors? Not sure how good I'd be at that."

"Even if there wasn't some big threat looming I think it might be a good thing for us," she said after a moment's thought. "And for them. We have a better understanding than anyone on Remnant of what the power of Semblance and Aura really derive from. You and I are proof that all of the techniques from our world are still possible and still work. Maybe no one else on Remnant can attain anything even close to the level we are at, but we might be able to help them expand the abilities they do have. Maybe even lead them to some new ones. We can certainly help them improve their physical skills and conditioning and even if that's all we can do they will be better off. And you'd do just fine teaching them."

He shrugged. "I suppose the next question is how much of this fight do we carry? I know we don't know enough about it yet but even if we can take down all the bad guys by ourselves, it doesn't mean we should even if I want to do just that. Pride might not be the best reason but they are learning to be Huntsmen and Huntresses for a reason and this fight is just as much theirs as it is ours."

"Once we know what's going on we'll have to find a balance there," she said. "No matter what the danger is I'm pretty sure none of them would appreciate it if we shut them out of the fight. We both know neither of us would like that."

"True enough," he agreed.

They suspended their conversation while Tai set two plates of pancakes and a container of syrup down in front of them.

"Since we've got a couple of days before we let the good Professor know our intentions, I was thinking maybe we should go to Mountain Glenn and see if those Goliath's Ruby mentioned are still in the area," Yoruichi said.

"I was thinking the same thing," he said in agreement. "I don't like the idea of there being big Grimm like that so close to Vale."

"You're just itching to use Kurohitsugi again aren't you?" she asked with a smirk.

"...Maybe," he responded.

"I sometimes wonder about you Ichi," she sighed in exaggerated concern. "Your favourite kido is the same one Aizen used against you."

"It's still bad ass," he defended. "Bet Ruby and her friends would be impressed by it."

"Ruby would probably have a fan-gasm to end all fan-gasms," Yoruichi smirked. "You just want an audience to hear you recite the chant and turn some of the biggest Grimm they've ever seen into smoking mush."

"Hey, even I like to show off once in a while," he defended. "Like you don't want to show off your Shunko."

She thought about it for a minute, then smiled. "Yeah, you're right." They both had a good laugh about it.

"You know," he began as he slowly drizzled syrup over his pancakes while giving her a smirking look. "It won't take us two days to take care those Goliaths and anything else walking around Mountain Glenn. We're going to need something to do to keep ourselves occupied."

She dipped her finger under the drizzling syrup and seductively licked it off. "I like the way you think. And I saw something at that little shop on my way here that you might like."

They'd have to hit the grocery store on the way back too.

* * *

A syrup covered Yoruichi...talk about nosebleed territory. I think I'm bleeding to death.

The experiment continues and I still have no real idea where I'm going with it. I have a couple of small ideas but nothing extensive. I am also debating about how close to stay with canon as it goes along.

Still deciding if I have Ozpin die and merge with Oscar like in canon or not. Still debating if Yang loses her arm or just gets hurt to a lesser degree. Does Blake still take off? Does Weiss still get dragged back home by her prick of a father?

There will be other characters getting souls from Bleach characters but that is by no means finalized. I only have one picked out so far (Nora) and another one I'm trying to match soul to. (Pyrrha) Not every character is going to get one, that just wouldn't play out very well.

The criteria is as such: The RWBY character in question does not have to entirely match a Bleach character. All that is needed is either a character trait the Bleach character was known for or something in their powers that are similar.

Weiss ended up with both being matched up to Rukia. Yang and Ruby show traits of both of Ichigo's sisters but I could easily have matched Yang up with Tatsuki over their love of fighting and their high skill level. (And their tempers)

I'm open to suggestions.

Anyway, hope you like this chapter and I hope to see some reviews.

Oh, one last thing. If anyone can figure out why I gave the cook the name I did, then give yourself a pat on the back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I own nothing of it and am only playing in this wonderful world Monty gave us.

A number of you have been wondering what has been taking so long to get this next chapter out. Besides the difficulties I have mentioned previously concerning how I am writing this, the overriding factor was the intrusion of life and the real world.

Not that I owe anyone an explanation, but this year for me has totally sucked balls. Started with a couple of minor physical ailments followed by a seven month struggle with a bout of depression that acted like this past winter did...it just simply didn't want to go the hell away. And once I finally, truly got free and clear of that...along comes another minor but persistent physical ailment and now an issue with my remaining, elderly parent.

If the year 2018 doesn't end up freaking killing me I'll consider myself lucky.

With all of that said I therefore have no idea how good this chapter is or how it stands alongside the others...and considering the circumstances under which it was written I'm not about to apologize for it either. It is what it is for good or for bad. I have been letting the 'writer's flow' guide me as I often do and I hope I haven't painted myself into a corner anywhere, since as I have said before, I have no freaking idea where this is going. I suppose that's half the fun.

One last thing, at the end of the last chapter I asked if anyone could figure out why I gave the diner's cook the name of Lon.

Since no one could be bothered to try and guess, I can't be bothered to give an answer. I know, rather pissy of me but at this point I'm not really giving a crap about that.

So, hopefully the chapter doesn't suck and you all would be nice enough to read and review.

 **Chance Encounter**

 _ **Chapter 3**_

 _ **Early Morning, Professor Ozpin's Office:**_

As the Headmaster of a prestigious school like Beacon he was certainly used to being up early. He always liked to greet the day with the sight of the young and excited students under his care that represented Remnant's best chance for a brighter future going off to their morning classes. Today however he was up earlier than usual, a restless night of sleep prompting him to leave his bed for the familiar and soothing sound of the clockworks of his office.

His restlessness was borne of the confirmation of a meeting with two figures that like himself were beings from Remnant's old myths and fairy tales. While he himself was powerful, though certainly not as powerful as he once was, the two that would be visiting later today seemed to have power that was far beyond even what he had once held. Exactly how powerful he did not know but if one were to take the old and truthfully rare stories at face value, a hard thing to do since such things were often exaggerated right from the outset, then they were definitely not to be trifled with.

Throughout his many lives he had never encountered the two before just a few years ago. He had however seen the sites of some of their reported battles and had heard stories that weren't part of the recorded history. Of course those stories could be rather suspect when it came to their accuracy, but there were enough common elements in them that he had been able to get a good idea what was truth and what wasn't. He had tried to find them on a few occasions but they seemed to be stubbornly elusive and if the timing of some of the stories could be believed, they seemed to be capable of covering long distances in a short periods of time.

One thing seemed abundantly clear to him and that was that Ichigo Kurosaki and Yoruichi Shihoin were powerful, deadly, and quite likely ancients where life forms on this world were concerned. How ancient? That was the question but something that Glynda had reported to him that Yoruichi had said, and the way that she had said it during their meeting at the diner stuck with him.

 _'End of the world...been there, done that.'_

Was it possible that they were from whatever Remnant used to be? While he knew the tale of The Two Brothers to be true, he had always held the belief that they had not been responsible for the creation of the actual world itself, just perhaps what lived upon it. He had no real proof but he had always felt deep down in his bones, maybe down deep in his very soul, that this world had been something very much different at one time.

Yoruichi had also made it very clear that there was not going to be any form of negotiation. An exchange of information and a consideration of whether or not they believed they were being told the truth would determine what their level of involvement would be. They very well could be the trump card that he needed to defeat Salem but he didn't dare to get his hopes too high about it. He could feel it in his guts however that no matter what their level of involvement was, it would not be a good idea to withhold information from them.

As for the others attending the meeting, Glynda might be leery of giving out too much information and he knew Ironwood likely would be strongly against it. He wasn't inclined to care too much about the General's opinion at the moment given the angst the arrival of his forces had put into the population. If anything it made the possibility of Ichigo and Yoruichi joining them a bit more important. He wished Qrow could be present, although he might just simply disagree with Ironwood because he could, like usual, and it would be best to avoid the arguing.

The simple fact was that they desperately needed allies, experienced and powerful allies. While he knew he had some worthy young recruits in his school that he had certain expectations for, if he could spare them even a little of the hardships and blood that was surely to come then he would do so. For generations he had seen far too many young and able Huntsmen and Huntresses fall in this never ending struggle.

One of the hardest things for him to do these days was to look into the innocent silver eyes of the girl he had allowed into Beacon two years early. She had already lost her mother to the evil that was Salem and she had such high hopes and such a desire to become a Huntress herself. Hunting Grimm and taking down criminals was one thing, but Salem was a whole different game. It pained him greatly to need young people such as Ruby Rose in such a capacity, it made him feel sick and utterly disgusted with himself but if they were to have any hope of surviving Salem then it was a pain he would have to endure and more added weight that his conscience would just have to find a way bear.

But today could provide a spark of hope, a way for the light to push back against the ever encroaching darkness. The first time he had met Ichigo and Yoruichi he had experienced an odd feeling that he couldn't quite identify. It couldn't be familiarity since he had never met them before that particular day and knew nothing about them, but at the same time there wasn't that same feeling of newness and the unknown that one gets when meeting a person for the first time. He had felt oddly at ease but was completely baffled as to why that should be. There had been a sense of power and lethality about them as well yet it hadn't made him wary in the least.

He took his coffee and went to the windows to watch dawn breaking over the expansive campus of his school while trying to ignore the Atlas military ships drifting across the sky. The General was a smart man but sometimes he let his zeal for protecting the people get away from him. Bringing his ships here would certainly tip off the enemy when he himself much preferred a more subtle approach that would have kept them in the dark and not made the people nervous. There was nothing he could do about that now but it did limit his available options. The meeting today, if it went well, could go a long way to help ease things and give them an upper hand. He just hoped he was reading the situation right and that he had a good enough read on his coming guests.

As wary as he was to give into it, he had a feeling deep in his bones that came from that odd, unexplained feeling he had about the two that their fortunes in this conflict were about to change for the better. He hoped and prayed that it was so.

* * *

Ozpin wasn't the only one who was restless and early to awaken. Ichigo found himself contemplating the ceiling as dawn broke and the early morning light slowly began to push its way through the curtains. Most of the evening before had been spent discussing what was to come. Himself, Yoruichi, Tensa, and Shiro had all sat around the dining room table accompanied by a couple of bottles of prime Mistralian sake and discussed the situation. Should they become more involved than they had been? How involved should they become if the answer to that was yes, and in what ways should they be involved? How much should they reveal about themselves and about what the world had once been?

The answer to the first question was yes, they should become more involved. They had spent long enough in fooling themselves into thinking that they had being doing enough when all they had really been doing was going through the motions. They had seen and heard more than enough things over the years that should have made them take a deeper look at what was going on in the world around them. But the wounds of the past and what they saw as their failures ran deep and were still raw, too raw for them to dive too far beneath the surface of the problems that plagued this world.

How involved should they be? They should been in it up to their necks if for no other reason than their previous lack of involvement may well have helped to make things worse. They didn't know just exactly what it was yet that they would be facing but that hardly mattered. They had vowed to protect this new world and yet they had limited themselves in how they did so. If you were only going to do half a job then you might as well not do the job at all and they had been half-assing it and lying to themselves about it. It hurt to realize that but that was the nature of the truth.

In what way should they be involved? That kind of depended on what the actual situation was. With their power they probably had the ability to put an end to whatever the problem was all by themselves. It would be a bit crass of them to do that considering how their previous inaction had probably contributed to the mess and would be a bit of a slap in the face to all who had no doubt already suffered and died. Also to those who were currently facing it as well as all of those who would in the near future.

Again, without knowing what the actual situation was the answer to that question couldn't accurately be defined as of yet. However, they were prepared to help train people, fight at their side and take down what they couldn't, and just generally be a nuisance to whoever the enemy was and get them to focus a significant part of their attention on them, allowing others to work with less impediments and less scrutiny upon them. If they took care of the entire thing themselves then what incentive did the rest of the people have to take an active hand in protecting their world?

How much should they reveal about themselves? They were prepared to tell the whole story but they weren't going to give it all up without reciprocation from the other side. If they were going to be involved they wanted full disclosure and nothing short of that was going to work. The gorgeous hellcat lying next to him was going to see to that and he was both amused and humbled by her resolve on the matter. He knew that it came from the guilt she carried for not being completely open and honest with him so long ago when he first became involved with the spiritual world, something he had long since forgiven her for.

They were both the same that way, there so many things that they carried so much guilt over and it was still an ongoing process of self forgiveness to try and get past it. Realizing that they could have done so much more than they had for the world they now lived in only added to it, but becoming more involved now and revealing themselves was the start of their atonement for that. They didn't plan on revealing themselves to the population at large, that would cause way too big of a headache and they would never get a moments peace. Those that they felt needed to know or who they wanted to tell would find out but otherwise they wanted to remain as anonymous and mundane as they could to the rest of the world.

It kind of figured that something would have to come along to sidetrack the normalcy that they had been enjoying in their lives since deciding to settle down in Vale. Ending such a long and nomadic lifestyle had been difficult but it had also been well past time that they tried. It was working and they had been making some good progress in dealing with the ghosts of the past. As always, there were good days and bad days but finally settling into a routine that could be considered normal, at least as normal as being professional monster slayers could be, was doing them a great deal of good. They were feeling more relaxed and content than they had in a very long time.

The interruption couldn't be helped he supposed, it had been bound to happen and that didn't mean that things had to change all that much. Just so long as they didn't fuck up and lose this world too. Okay, that was a little too dark even for him and if there was one thing that was crystal clear above all others from their meeting last night it was that they would _not_ fail again. They would do whatever it took to keep this world whole.

Despite their resolve and the decisions made he still found himself feeling just a little bit nervous but all he had to do to reassure himself and maintain his composure was to look at the dark skinned beauty lying with her back to him to his left. He let his eyes wander down her bare back to her hip and the top of her perfect behind where the thin sheet that was draped over the two of them began. Even now after all this time he found himself in awe of the fact that he was married to Yoruichi Shihoin.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, even her name sounded beautiful to him and it had ever since the first time he had heard it. As intimidating as that beauty could be, and as intimidating as her skills were, he had always found her to be someone he could pretty easily talk to. Even with all of the teasing he had to endure that had always remained so. She had become an important part of his life long before he ever realized the feelings he had for her.

After awakening in this new version of the world they became just about as broken as two people could be and it wasn't until they both got down to the most raw and absolute truths of how they felt about each other that they began to pull themselves back together. It was an absolute truth that they never would have been able to recover without each other and neither of them wanted to think of what they would have become if that wasn't so.

Through good and bad he got to see the parts of her that he had never known, that he didn't know even existed. She was probably the strongest, most together and self assured person he had ever known. He had seen her afraid, terrified even. He had seen her broken and in tears and fragile. He had seen her desperate and pleading. She had seen the same from him as they scratched and clawed their way out of the darkness and put themselves back together.

They saw every part of each other that there was to see, the good, the bad, and the hideously ugly. They told each other every truth and every lie, told each other of every pain. They left nothing covered or hidden away, revealing everything. Every love and every hate, every hope and every despair, every cherished moment and every loneliness. Every bit of their lives and their souls was left bare for the other to see. Their bond and their love for each other was unlike anything else in the world.

Whatever it was that they were about to get themselves into, they would be in it together and they would come out the other side together. As slow as they were to heal the wounds of the past were indeed doing just that and they were truly starting to live and enjoy life again in a way they hadn't in a very, very long time. Nothing was going to impede or intrude upon that. Whatever evil was at work on this world was about to meet both the immovable object _and_ the irresistible force and discover that it could overcome neither.

He leaned over and kissed her bare shoulder, loving the familiar feel of her soft skin against his lips. "Time to get up Kitten," he said softly.

Her answer was to roll toward him slightly, reach up and plant her hand on the back of his head and pull him down for a kiss. "I guess neither of us slept that well," she said when their lips parted. "I didn't expect for my nerves to feel this jangled over this."

"I didn't either really," he said. "But I guess it can't be helped."

"I guess you're right," she agreed. "This is the first time we've told anyone about us and our past. We didn't even tell our kids."

Neither of them had liked keeping it from them but those were pretty superstitious times and it was for their own good that they didn't know. If the truth about them became known it would have meant a lot of grief for everyone involved and would have destroyed any chance their children would have had for a normal life. At least they had been adults and nicely entrenched into their own lives when they had decided to disappear, but that hadn't made it hurt any less. They had debated over the intervening years whether they had done the right thing or not but it was a deed long done and nothing they decided afterwards, especially now, would change it or make it any less painful.

"It's a step we need to take," he said. "Especially if it means doing what we promised, to protect this world."

"I know," she agreed, giving him another kiss. "And whatever comes at us because of it we'll deal with together."

He smiled and kissed her again. "Yes we will. Now go shower, I'll get breakfast."

* * *

Two hours later they were stepping off of a Bullhead and onto the landing area at Beacon. They had joked about him just opening a Garganta directly to Ozpin's office and scaring the hell out of everyone. They also considered having him walk in with her riding on his shoulder in cat form and then being the one to do all the talking while he just scowled at them. As fun as either of those may have been it wouldn't exactly set the best tone for the meeting or any future cooperation. It did at least give them both a chuckle and broke some of their tension.

It had been a while since their last visit here and it seemed that nothing had changed about the place and it seemed to still have that aura about it that told of its purpose and its significance. They had only been here a handful of times and through those and a few clandestine visits they knew the layout of the campus very well. As they did when they went anywhere they let their senses sweep over the area, locating the most powerful people in the place. She used the Shinigami's usual ability to sense those with stronger souls while Ichigo used his Hollow technique of Pesquisa. His Hollow instincts allowed him to not only find and pinpoint the stronger souls just as her abilities did, but they also allowed him to sense any inherent maliciousness in them. Shiro had trained him hard to be able to sense that, working Ichigo until it became just as easy for him to do it as it was for the Hollow himself.

It was easy to sense all of the Professors in their classrooms surrounded by the weaker signatures of their students...he could even discern the dim shadow of ill intent from the handful that were likely prone to bullying others. There were two strong signatures coming from the top of Beacon's namesake tower where Ozpin's office was. One was the very unique feel of the Headmaster and the other was unfamiliar. They could feel Glynda's coming closer to them as she made her way through the ground floor of the school and towards the entrance across the long courtyard before them. Ichigo's scowl deepened as his senses swept over something he wasn't expecting. He concentrated directly on it to get a better feel and read to make sure he was right.

"Find something?" Yoruichi asked, noting the change in his expression. She had felt something unexpected as well and she trusted his ability to read it as a potential threat or not. They always liked to double check with each other to make sure they didn't go jumping at shadows.

"In the visitor dorms," he said. It was the same place she had detected it. "Someone's there that feels at least as powerful as the Professors if not more and I don't recognize them. Feels pretty dark too."

"I definitely feel more power there than from anyone else here," she said. "And I don't recognize it either."

He grinned evilly. "Should I ping them?"

Pinging entailed hitting the target of his Pesquisa with a dose of his Hollow reiatsu, a flash of killing intent. It did wonders for freaking out the target and often setting them running.

"Fun as that might be I think we should hold off on that," Yoruichi cautioned. "We don't know anything about them. We can always ask Ozpin if he's aware of them and do some snooping of our own later."

"The kitty wants to go stretch her paws?" he quipped.

She smirked. "Something like that." She took his hand, intertwining their fingers. "C'mon, let's not keep them waiting."

They arrived at the building entrance at the same time as Glynda and after a brief exchange of pleasantries they made their way toward the administrative wing of the school and the elevator up to Ozpin's office in Beacon Tower. They were almost to the elevator when Yoruichi's grip on his hand tightened and he glanced at her to see a look of concentration on her face. She was looking down at the floor and off to her right. He gave her hand a squeeze to get her attention and gave her a questioning look when she turned her eyes on him.

 _'Later,'_ she mouthed to him.

He gave her a slight nod. He certainly trusted her judgment. Obviously she had sensed something he hadn't, which wasn't a stretch considering who she was and what her role in the Gotei 13 had been. Her senses were more passive and virtually automatic while his required some active concentration, especially if the thing being sensed was weak or well hidden. Plus, he hadn't been trying to sense anything since their scanning of several minutes earlier. It was a matter of playing roles. After their initial assessment of an area he let his eyes, ears, and Hollow tuned instincts scan for threats while she would let her second nature skills of soul and soul energy detection continue to scan their surroundings. Anything that wasn't an immediate threat or concern could be inquired about or looked into later.

* * *

General James Ironwood saw himself as a man of practicalities, sensible, with a strong belief in the things that he could hear, see, and feel for himself. He was not given to flights of fancy or tales of the fantastic. Which seemed a bit off really when one considered some of the things he knew to be true in the here and now, things that had once been little more than fairy tales and myths to him. How many of those did he now know to be truths of this world and not works of fiction to entertain children or stories designed to explain what otherwise could not be.

Even so, every time the possibility of yet another story turning out to be true popped up he found himself just as skeptical as he had been in the beginning of his association with Ozpin before certain things had been proven to him. Given his occupation, history was an important subject to him. Learning from both the mistakes and successes of the past helped ensure that better decisions could be made in the present. Even myths and legends were useful because they often contained at least some small facet of factual truth within them and even if they didn't there was almost always a lesson to be learned from the tales.

Thus, he wasn't unfamiliar with the stories attributed to the pair that Ozpin had been alerted to by a chance meeting with one of his students. He had read accounts previously and had brushed up on them after Ozpin told him about the two and that they would be coming to his office for a meeting. If any of the accounts of the feats possibly attributed to these two were even half true, then they would have acquired more valuable assets in the fight against Salem if they chose to join them. He knew that old historical accounts could often be just as exaggerated as tales of myth and legend often were but even if they proved to be only as formidable as a highly skilled Huntsman like Qrow Branwen they would still come out on the plus side of the ledger here. If they were something more...well he wasn't about to believe that just yet or get his hopes up.

Even forewarned by historical accounts and Glynda's report, he still found himself struck by their presence. They indeed matched the descriptions given in the old stories but more than that there was something in his gut, a sense that had severed him well over the years, that he was looking at two dangerous people. _Very_ dangerous.

Once introductions were made they all took a seat around the temporary table situated in front of Ozpin's desk that had been brought in just for this meeting, along with a coffee and tea service. Ichigo removed his blades and laid them on a smaller table off to the side along the wall.

"It's been a while since we last talked Professor," Yoruichi addressed Ozpin.

"Indeed it has," he answered with an apologetic smile. "I am sorry though to have forced the circumstances as I have."

She waved her hand dismissively. "What's done is done and like I told Professor Goodwitch we knew that the past would catch up to us sooner of later, and since we had been discussing it ourselves recently it's probably better that it happened now."

"Then I suppose the next question is, how should we proceed?" he asked.

Ichigo and Yoruichi looked at each other for a moment, letting each other know that they were ready for this and were willing to go through with what they had discussed the previous day. "How about we start with who we are and how we came to be here," Ichigo began.

"The broad strokes," Yoruichi added. "Questions and finer details can come later. You reciprocate in kind and we'll see where we stand before going further. Agreeable?"

"Agreeable," Ozpin nodded. "Glynda?" he asked. The combat instructor paused for a moment then nodded. "James?" he asked.

The General regarded them sternly for a moment. "I'm not keen on revealing any more than necessary just to ascertain if they are who they claim to be."

"And we're not too keen on revealing our life story to you," Ichigo cut in. "But if there's something that's threatening this world then we're willing to do so if it means finding out what that is. We have to live here too just like you do."

"We could go and find out on our own and take care of it ourselves," Yoruichi added. "But then we run the risk of getting in each other's way and making the situation worse if we don't have all of the information."

"Telling them what's going on would be a small price to pay James for any help they would be willing to provide. You know as well as I that we can use all the help we can get."

The General mulled this over for a moment. "Fine. I'll hear them out but I will need some convincing before I go much farther than that."

 _'Careful what you wish for General,'_ Yoruichi thought. She grinned in a rather cat-like way. "Well then, let me get started by saying whoever decided to name this world Remnant chose the name well, because it is exactly that, the remains of something else."

She proceeded to tell them of the physical world and its related dimensions that eventually became Remnant, of the differing races that populated them and how those beings and worlds interacted in broad terms. As she had said earlier the details could wait until later. She told them that she as a Shinigami, or in terms that were more recognizable and chilling to them, a Death God, and that Ichigo was a hybrid of the various beings she had mentioned.

She gave them a brief and broad run down of the battle that had brought about the collapse of the worlds and created this one and them finally waking up after what they figure probably had to be a span of thousands of years.

"Pardon me for being blunt," a clearly skeptical General Ironwood said when she had finished. "But it seems rather unlikely that if it is indeed as you say that these different dimensions ended up crashing together and becoming one, and that untold billions of beings perished, that there should be any survivors."

"We agree," Ichigo said. "And yet here we are anyway."

"We don't know if our survival is due to Ichigo's power and nature as a hybrid," Yoruichi carried on. "Or if it was the influence of the powers of rejection of a friend, or the influence of something or someone unknown. Could be all three or none of the above for all we know."

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept that," Ironwood said. "The scale of the power and destruction of such a cataclysm is beyond the scope of comprehension. But even so, the idea that any living being could survive it is beyond the imagination. I'm afraid I can't accept anything that you have said thus far without something that can back it up and I can't see how you can."

"This discussion has only just begun James," Ozpin cut in. "With all of the things you have already seen and know to be true in this world of ours I would think you would be a little more open minded about other possibilities."  
"I believe those things _because_ I have seen proof of them Oz," Ironwood defended. "And you know how much it took to convince me even then. I simply can't accept any of this as being truthful without something to back it up and so far it's sounding like time wasted."

"And who's time is it that is being wasted General?" Yoruichi asked, a dangerous tone in her voice. "We did not arrange for this meeting and would be otherwise occupied with our own pursuits if we had not been approached. We could have brushed off the historical accounts as a mere coincidence and went about our business but we decided to come here and potentially become involved in whatever the mess it is that Remnant is facing."

"I apologize for my poor choice of words," Ironwood said diplomatically. "But in the interests of the security of this group and Remnant itself, I simply cannot believe a story like this without something concrete to back it up. Do you have any such thing?"

Except for Ichigo, the occupants of the room suddenly felt like a great weight had been dropped upon them. They couldn't move, perspiration broke out on their skin and it was hard to breathe. With her hands planted firmly on the table Yoruichi stood and leaned towards Ironwood. For someone of her small stature, she certainly could be intimidating.

"No General, I don't. Maybe you misunderstood what I explained earlier," she seethed. "When the spiritual worlds of the Soul Society and the Royal Realm, of Hueco Mundo and Hell collided with the physical world of the living it destroyed _everything_! There are no old scrolls or books detailing what was, there are no relics or artifacts or ruins buried for an archaeologist to find. There is _nothing!_ The closest thing that this world has to a relic of the past is Dust and it's the end result of the fusion of the Reishi, the spirit particles that made up the spiritual worlds and the spiritual energy of every soul that perished when we won the battle, but lost the war. Those worlds and everyone in them..." her voice was starting to shake. "Everything, everyone we knew, everyone that we loved...friends, family...they are _all_ gone General. Ichigo and I are all that is left and we're broken. We couldn't save any of them. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

The weight pressing down on them relented when Ichigo placed a hand over one of hers and his other hand came to rest gently on her shoulder. "Easy Kitten," he said with a sad but understanding little smile. "Just breathe and let it go. I've got you."

Head down, she sank back into her seat and he kept his hold on her hand. His other arm went around her shoulders. He turned back to the others who were still recovering.

"What was that?" Glynda gasped.

"That was, at most, about ten percent of Yoruichi's Reiatsu," he explained. "Reiryoku is what we call a person's spiritual energy. Pretty much what you call Aura. Reiatsu or spiritual pressure is the outward expression of that energy. Closest thing for you would be the Semblance and the different effects of each Semblance kind of mirror the Shinigami form of magic known as Kido or the abilities of a Shinigami's Zanpaktou." He nodded his head towards his swords. "Both require the expenditure of spiritual energy just like the Semblance requires spending Aura." He looked to the Atlesian. "General, the only thing that we have left from what this world once was is each other, our power, and our word. We could show you our power and there would be no doubt left even in your mind that there is nothing on this world that truly poses a threat to us. But as for our words, well I can't make you believe anything we might say, at best we could tell you things that would indeed verify and even clear up a number of historical events that have happened since we finally awoke. But I will look you in the eyes," and he did so with an intense stare," and swear to you that not a single thing we have told you or will tell you is anything but the truth as we know it."

That stare, it pinned Ironwood in place and he could not help but feel the weight of conviction behind Ichigo's words. He had always considered himself to be at least a decent judge of character and given his responsibilities and his beliefs on protecting the world, he needed to be. He couldn't afford to trust blindly but his guts and something in the other man's eyes were telling him that he was being given the truth. These two people were exactly what they said they were...so far, given that what they had offered up so far was intentionally lacking in a certain amount of detail. He glanced at Ozpin and then Glynda. Were they already buying into this, or were they just being more diplomatic about it that he was?

It was obvious that he had struck a nerve and upset Yoruichi, genuinely upset her and that had not been his intent. Then again, if everything they had said thus far was true and that they blamed themselves for the loss of their worlds and the state of this one, then perhaps it wasn't so strange that she would react the way she did. Some wounds ran deep and could take a very long time to heal, if they ever did. He knew that well enough himself but he couldn't fathom what it must be like on the scale of their experience.

He sighed. "I apologize. I have been told that I can be a little...overzealous...in my desire to protect this world and it was certainly not my desire to cause any upset. Everything I have learned over the years in dealing with other people tells me that you are not being deceitful, but I'm afraid a certain amount of paranoia and skepticism is inherent in my position."

"I can appreciate that," Yoruichi spoke up, back in control of herself. "As you will no doubt find out along the way when we tell you exactly what my particular job was as a Shinigami. And I apologize for my outburst. Coping with what we have lost and with the responsibility we feel for it is something we both struggle with constantly. I had thought I was finally dealing with it much better than this."

"We all have our moments where the past haunts us no matter how well we think we are handling it," Ozpin said quietly, his voice carrying the weight of age and bitter experience. "All we can do is bear the weight and continue forward."

"It's the only way," Ichigo agreed, Shiro and Tensa humming in agreement.

"So then," Yoruichi said. "Let's hear the other side of this story and see what we have."

Ozpin began by asking if they were familiar with many of the fairy tales of Remnant, and they were, having told many of them to their own children. He told them that a number of them were indeed true and he focused on the tale of the Maidens and his role in it. That explained to them why Ozpin's soul was so hard to read and felt like it was made up of numerous layers. It literally was. Every new life and soul was stacked upon the rest.

He also focused on the story of the Two Brothers. They had heard the story before of course but hadn't paid it any mind at the time. But if it really was true then that left them with a whole lot of questions about the formation of this world after they passed out as everything collapsed.

They didn't need to say a word to know what they were both thinking. Who were these brothers and how did they come to be, and did they really form this world? Were they survivors of the disaster or were they beings that had remained unknown to all of the races involved and who stepped in to reshape the world? Did they have anything at all to do with Yhwach or the Soul King or even Aizen? Too many questions and possibilities swirled in their heads and it left them visibly shaken. In all of the things they had experienced and encountered since their awakening, they had never come across anything that suggested even the most minute influence by any of those people nor had they felt so much as the slightest trace of their souls or their Reiryoku.

They made it through the explanation about Salem before taking a break. While Ozpin talked to Ironwood and Goodwitch made arrangements for lunch to be delivered from the cafeteria, they went out for some much needed air and ended up on the roof of one of the dorm buildings. Yoruichi sat on the edge and Ichigo sat behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. They sat in silence for several minutes before either of them spoke.

"How did we manage to never seriously consider how the world stabilized and became what it is?" she asked.

"I mean, if anybody in the world could ever be able to easily believe that a fairy tale could actually be true it would be us."

"Too busy blaming ourselves and trying to keep it together I suppose," he mused. "And we never heard, saw, or felt anything that would cause alarm so why add to the mess that we already were?"

"And still are apparently," she sighed. "Didn't think I'd go off like that and I made a bit of a fool of myself in there. Why is it that every time we think we're getting a handle on this we discover that we aren't?"

He tightened his hold on her. "We're probably fortunate to be doing as well as we are all things considered."

"I don't like feeling weak," she said quietly. "Or looking weak."

It was part of who she was as the former head of one of the great noble families of the Soul Society and who she was as the head of the Second Division and Onmitsukdo of the Gotei 13. One couldn't do either and be weak and looking weak was an open invitation to your enemies in any of those roles. She had always maintained that strength and it was one of the things he had admired about her right from the start. If things got tough she always kept a cool head and was on top of the situation. She didn't get rattled and while she certainly could get angry, she never lost herself to it or did stupid things because of it. If something was bothering her it had been very rare for her to show it.

But after they awoke here and the truth of what happened became evident to them it was a different story. Even the strongest of people have limits and can break when they reach them and she did. The sheer scale of the disaster and what they had lost, and how intimately they were involved with it all was both the irresistible force _and_ the immovable object and there was absolutely no way that either of them could come out of it unscathed and unchanged.

It was remarkable that either of them had retained their sanity and to this day they weren't sure how they had managed it. They were both plagued with guilt on a day to day sliding scale of severity. These days it was far less severe than it had been even just a few years ago. They had reached a point where the only way there was to go was up because they had been down at the bottom for far too long already. He had actually become calmer and more reasoned and no longer prone to blindly flying off the handle and being reckless. She on the other hand had become more emotional at times and sometimes had to fight to maintain that old strength.

But, they got by and they continued to ever so slowly get stronger for one simple and undeniable fact. They had each other. They loved each other deeply and truly understood one another. When one would suffer all it often took was a simply touch or even a look to remind the other that they weren't alone and never would be. That's why his embrace meant so much to her, especially at this moment.

He gently kissed her on the right temple. "You're not weak Kitten," she said lightly. "Not by a long shot. We could've come out of this as crazy as Kenpachi but we didn't. We're just a little broken and I think we can handle that."

She leaned back into him. "Don't know what I'd do without you Strawberry."

"Right back at ya," he said. "Good thing neither of us will have to find out otherwise."

"Guess we should go back in," she said, not really wanting to leave his arms right now but knowing she had to. "We've kept them long enough."

He took her hand as they got up and made their way back to the roof access door. "So, are when in?"

She looked up into his eyes. "Do you want to be in?"

"Yeah," he answered. "This Salem and anyone she's got working for her have to go if this world is ever going to have a chance to prosper and get a handle on its other problems. She's caused too much pain for too many people already. It has to stop."

"I agree," she said. "After both sides share a few more details we'll work out just exactly how we're going to involve ourselves."

"Let's just hope they haven't left out any big surprises."

* * *

Through lunch and well into the afternoon they learned more details about Salem and past encounters Ozpin had had with her and any of her associates. It seemed like the Mother of Grimm was more likely to use others and try to manipulate events rather than take direct action, or at least that had been her history as Ozpin experienced it. In turn, they gave more details about their worlds, their battles, and the kind of powers that all of the races that made up Ichigo's hybrid nature.

Ironwood of course was the most skeptical, but it wasn't too hard to show him some examples. Yoruichi used a low level binding spell to demonstrate Kido for him. It was all she could do to not laugh at the look on his face when he found himself wrapped up in the glowing yellow ropes of Hainawa. Ichigo was able to demonstrate the existence of the Zanpaktou spirit by inviting Shiro and Tensa to join them. He made sure to explain to them the exact nature of the connection between a blade spirit and its wielder, that they were one in the same, parts of the same soul and that together they were at their most powerful when both realized and accepted it as he had with his spirits.

Needless to say though, they did find Shiro to be rather unnerving. Much to his amusement of course.

They were all rather shocked when they were told what exactly Yoruichi's duties had entailed within the Gotei 13 and that she was beyond the expert level in intelligence gathering and disinformation, stealth, infiltration...and assassination. That last one was always bound to leave people's jaws hanging to the floor.

"Glynda tells me that you can feel a person's soul," Ozpin said, bringing up another shocker. "Is this true?"

"It is," Yoruichi confirmed. "Most Shinigami could find and track a person by their soul energy if it was strong enough. Others who are more highly trained in that like myself could also track people with very low spiritual energy. For Ichigo and I now it also allows us to detect the souls of people we used to know before the end of our worlds. It told us that somehow the cycle of reincarnation remained intact, which is one of the things Shinigami fought to maintain."

"Finding the soul of someone you once knew...that cannot be easy for either of you to deal with," Ironwood speculated.

"It's a double edged sword," Ichigo said by way of agreement. "For a long time we never found a soul that was from someone who had been really close to us. We came across some that were familiar but likely were from people we had met but didn't really know. It was hard because we knew then that it was possible to discover the soul of a friend or loved one and it was something to dread as much as hope for."

"Have you found the soul of someone close to you?" Glynda asked.

"I have," he said with a slight smile. "I found the souls of my little sisters and of the Shinigami that gave me her powers so I could save my family."

"This has something to do with your lunch with Ms. Rose the other day, does it not?" Ozpin question.

"In a way, yes," he confirmed. "Though meeting her near the cafe really was a chance thing, but we had detected a possibly familiar soul in her as far back as the day of the first year's initiation."

"We have found that to truly confirm something like this requires us to be in a close proximity," Yoruichi explained. "You can feel it from a distance but you have to be very near the source and read their soul to truly tell."  
"Ruby and her sister Yang each hold half of the souls of my younger twin sisters Karin and Yuzu," Ichigo told them. It was obvious to them all by his tone and the look on his face that his little sisters had meant a great deal to him. "I can see parts of both their personalities in both girls. Their teammate Weiss Schnee has the reincarnated soul of Rukia Kuchiki."

"There are always similarities," Yoruichi explained further. "Rukia was adopted into a rich noble family, her Zanpakuto was an ice type and she was very good at kido. Weiss is from a rich and powerful family, she uses ice a lot in her attacks, and her glyphs are very much like a kido spell."

"And their other teammate, Blake Belladonna," Ichigo began, sending a glance to Yoruichi who nodded. "Is actually one of our long distant grandchildren."

Except for the sound of the clockworks above them the room had gone dead silent and their audience stared at them, dumbfounded. It was all Yoruichi could do not to break out into laughter. It was finally Ozpin who spoke.

"How is this possible? Ms. Belladonna is a Faunus, something neither of you can claim to be."

"Remember our earlier explanation of how races from our worlds correspond to this world, and how the Faunus feel the closest to Hollows?" Yoruichi reminded them. They nodded. "Well, the best we can tell it's because Ichigo is part Hollow, combined with our immense spiritual energies...and the fact that I can shape shift into a cat."

And before anyone could object, she did just that. Jumping up onto the table and sitting down, she continued, now in her male cat voice. "When we met Ms. Belladonna we could tell right away since the Hollow component that we could feel within her soul was an exact match for Ichigo's. The other point of confirmation will be the presence of some strands of purple hair in her ears, making this particular cat Faunus genetic line a very rare and select one. Although we haven't confirmed that part yet, we don't need to. The feel of her Hollow spirit energy is foolproof."

"Does she know?" Glynda asked.

Ichigo shook his head. "No, and the others don't know about their souls either. The three of you are the only ones we've told any of this to."

"And it shall remain in confidence then until you wish to inform anyone else," Ozpin said. With the connections these two had to Team RWBY, he knew his best first year team, and potentially one of his most important in what was to inevitably come, would be well watched over. "Any other surprises?" he asked, tempting fate.

"When we landed we did as we always do when we go anywhere," Yoruichi spoke up. "We let our senses scan the souls of those around us, looking for potential trouble. We found two interesting things. First was a soul holding a great deal of power in one of your visiting student dorms, more power than any student here and at least as much if not more than any of the faculty." That caused a look of alarm. "The second one we sensed was a severely weakened soul in a location somewhere beneath the school. Care to share?"

The look of alarm passing between the three intensified and was bordering on panicked. "Are you certain of what you sensed?" Ironwood asked.

Yoruichi levelled her gaze upon him. Damn, how could a little black cat look so intimidating. "Quite," she answered coldly.

Ozpin sighed tiredly. "The weakened soul is the Fall Maiden, Amber. She was attacked by agents of Salem and drained of most of her power. She would have lost all of it and her life if not for Qrow. Thanks to technology from Atlas we have been able to keep her alive, but just barely so and we fear that she won't last much longer. If she dies then it is very likely that the last of her power will seek out the rest and her assailant will then have the full power of the Fall Maiden."

"It may be necessary to transfer her remaining Aura to someone else." Ironwood added.

Yoruichi stood on all four feet and the hair on her back stood on end. "You cannot do that!" she thundered, as much as she could in cat form anyway. "And if you were to try I would stop you. You try forcing two souls together like that and what you most likely will succeed in doing is destroying them both."

"We have no other way..."

The General was cut off when a power that was much heavier and darker than the one from earlier settled upon him. "She told you no General," Ichigo growled. "And I'm pretty sure she knows a hell of a lot more about the soul than you and your scientists back in Atlas ever will."

"Ichigo, if you would please?" Yoruichi asked as she hopped down to the floor.

Ichigo let up on the power and stood, lifting his long coat from the back of the chair and holding it up like a screen. Behind it, Yoruichi returned to her human form, winking and smirking at her husband as he took the opportunity to gaze upon her bare flesh. His eyes on her...she could never get enough of that.

"You may not have another way but we do," she said as she dressed. "There is a form of Kido, know as Kaido that is used for healing. It works by first restoring the patient's soul energy, then uses it and the healer's energy to heal their injuries."

"Since Aura and spirit energy are essentially the same thing then you can restore her Aura this way?" Gylnda asked. She was hopeful for this since she had never liked the idea of putting Amber's Aura into someone else. It was unnatural and sounded way too much like a mad scientist's experiment for her liking. Plus, it would certainly guarantee Amber's death.

"Due to how low her Aura is at this point it might take several sessions of restoring it to stabilize her," the Flash Goddess explained. "And more after that to help speed her recovery but recover she will."

Ozpin sighed as they retook their seats. It was obvious that a great weight had just been removed from his shoulders. "If that is so then I thank you in advance. It was a decision I was not relishing having to make."

Yoruichi nodded. "Believe me Professor, I know all about those kind of decisions."

"So, what about this other person we detected?" Ichigo asked.

"It may be possible that the person you sensed could be the same person who infiltrated the CCT tower on the night of the school dance," Ozpin explained. "Ms. Rose actually saw them heading there and came across several Atlas guards who had been knocked out. She confronted the intruder up in the call centre atop the tower. The person was wearing a mask so their features were not fully discernible, thus a good description was not possible."

"It was obvious they had significant training and skills, but short of bringing everyone in the school in for an Aura scan we can't do what your sensing ability has already done," Glynda added.

"Do you know what they did when they were up there?" Yoruichi asked.

"We assume they tried to access the system somehow but we don't know to what end," Ironwood said, clearly not pleased about that lack of knowledge.

"I see two possibilities for such an intrusion," Yoruichi said. "They were either looking for something or planting something in the system. And given their messy entrance I would assume it was to plant something in the system. If they wanted to search for something they wouldn't have made such and obvious mess getting in."

"I had my personnel check the system but they didn't find anything," Ironwood said.

"No offence General, but how good are they at discovering a hack?" Yoruichi asked. "Do any of the people you had checking have intimate knowledge of the CCT systems and programming?"

"No," he answered with a hint of sheepishness. "They are very good at what they do but the original programmers and the trained specialists who maintain and repair the systems are the only ones who would be able to check every nook and cranny of the system."

"I can't tell you what to do but I would suggest getting some of those people here to look at it and I would also suggest being discreet about it," she advised. "It may sound paranoid but if the system has been compromised then your infiltrator could be capable of doing just about anything with it, including listening to communications. And you might not want to directly connect anything to the system you don't want them to have access to either."

The General sighed. "That is going to take some doing to accomplish."

"It's nothing you don't have the authority to make happen James," Ozpin said. "Consider it part of the security duties you pushed for."

"So what do we do about this person they detected?" Glynda asked, heading off a potential squabble after Ozpin's slight dig at the General.

"Why don't you let us play with that ball," Yoruichi suggested, a slightly dangerous grin adorning her face.

"So you're in then?" Ozpin asked, trying not to sound _too_ hopeful.

"Yeah, we're in," Ichigo grinned. "All that's left is the details of how and when."

* * *

In an otherwise unoccupied room in the currently sparsely populated visiting students dorms, Cinder Fall sat by the windows in a pose that would remind one of lounging nobility. While her underlings were off playing student and gathering information on their unsuspecting peers, she looked over the grounds of Beacon Academy as if it were her personal little kingdom, and as far as she was concerned it would be soon enough right along with the remainder of the Fall Maiden's power and the Relic that this place protected. The mice didn't even know that the cat was in their midst but that didn't mean that she was going to take unnecessary risks by being too visible. She would bide her time, observe, and strike when everything was in place.

Suddenly her smug demeanour vanished in a sharp intake of breath as something cold, dark, and malicious seemed to touch her soul. She couldn't move but to tremble and shake. It was hard to breath and she felt like she was trapped in a bubble of despair and killing intent. It felt as if ice water was being poured down the inside of her spine and that cold radiated out through the rest of her bones, threatening to freeze her solid with fear. She had never felt anything like this, not even from Salem. If anything this had an even more sinister feeling to it and she had the very disconcerting feeling that something was watching her.

She didn't know how long she was trapped by whatever this was, but it felt like an eternity before it finally released and she sagged, all but falling out of her chair. She was still trembling and her breath came in ragged gasps and she was sweating profusely. She had no idea what that was or what its presence meant but she knew for damn sure that she never wanted to feel it again or run into whatever caused it. It felt like she had been touched by Death itself.

* * *

AN: Well, there it is for whatever it might be worth. If it sucks, sue me, not like you'd get anything anyway.

Reviews are encouraged and welcome, and while you're hanging around why not check out some of my other stories. (Some of them, especially my other RWBY stories could certainly use the love.

And lets see some of you take a crack at your own Bleach/RWBY crossovers. The category needs more stories and there must be someone out there that can write some good stuff.


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